Blue Destiny
by E.J. Lawrence
Summary: Revenge is a dish best served cold. Or so Seto Kaiba learns as his world is turned upside down by a young woman who is determined to capture one of his Blue Eyes White Dragon. But how do you stop a girl who's willing to use everything against you, even hi
1. Default Chapter

Blue Destiny 

            Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh.  Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence. By the way all original characters were created by E.J. Lawrence. 

            Author's notes: Time frame of this story takes place while Yugi and the others are in Memory world and the Kaiba brothers are in America. This just after the Battle city tournament, and is the current arch that is running in the manga. Where the heck the Dorma saga came from I don't know, but I've gotta give them credit that he is an interesting character. ^_^ Enjoy. 

            I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. 

Chapter 1: Venture City

            Venture City is a midsized metropolis that is situated somewhere between L.A. and San Francisco California. Its history is all full of risks, being that it's situated nearest the beach and ranks as one of the best places to catch good waves among surfers. The city was established during the gold rush, and the economy has always been driven by small and big business alike. Those still looking for gold in the stock market have made the Venture a well known name in both the East and Midwest. Even its city motto has a gambling theme, "Venture City, population 10,985. The city that takes risks."

            So it was little wonder that Seto Kaiba had decided to build the North American version of Kaiba World on the outskirts of the city. He'd rented out a large office space on the upper floors of the Shamira building for Kaiba Corp. head quarters. Here was where he planed on setting into motion his most ambitious project to date. The creation of a large scaled version of Kaiba world that he'd created in Domino City. After his defeat at Yuugi's hand during Battle City he'd decided to follow what he'd been dreaming about for two years or so, a theme park that was designed for kids that didn't have much. He knew what it was like to have little or nothing to your name, he had lived it when he and his younger brother Mokuba were in an orphanage, and he wanted to give kids like that a chance to have some fun and forget their worries. 

            Kaiba Corp. in Japan was dealing with the designs and machines that would go in the park; these bits he'd left in capable hands back home. Right now what he was dealing with was finding an area of land, and his eyes had been set on a section of land that was just north of the city. It was the perfect place for Kaiba World, an area that met with the beach and could be accessed easily by car, or boat. Not to mention the beach side resorts that could be set up to pay for the free passes for schools and other clubs and organizations. The money from the sales of room and board at the hotels would go into a pool and pay for the tickets for the kids that would come in to the park. 

            He'd designed this for Mokuba, and wanted it to be just right. His little brother's reaction was the biggest test, and Seto was hoping that this new park would pass with flying colors. Only trouble was that he was having a heck of a time acquiring the acreage. In the past two weeks he'd hit wall after wall in trying to make deals with sponsors for different rides and to pay for the land. The problem being he was only sixteen and the head of his own corporation, and while the American businessmen were impressed with him, they didn't trust the word of a boy who wasn't even out of high school yet. 

            "Who was he," they'd cried, "to think they would just hand over cash without seeing plans, and other blueprints of this so-called Kaiba world!" 

            It was these meetings that he was dreading, and it was such a meeting he was going to have that afternoon. It was with a company that was well known and famous in the west; as big as the name Kaiba was when it came to technology for Duel Monsters, the name Magic and Wizards was known here in the State as, the name Blue Destiny was synonymous with video games. Seto had seen some of them back in Domino High, being played with on portable game players. Visually they were stunning, and certainly easy to play and extremely fun. So Seto knew that this wasn't going to be an easy sell, after all Blue Destiny was known for it's want of details and full summery of how the money was going to be spent. 

            He sighed and leaned back in his chair, glancing up at Mokuba who was sitting on a black leather couch, looking out the window at the boardwalk across the way. People were rushing about on skates and skateboards. There were performers, and magicians, and at the furthest end a small permanent carnival park with rides and games. Seto saw his little brother stare longingly out at the crowded walk and he walked over to see what was so interesting. 

            "Looks like fun," Seto said and Mokuba nodded. 

            "Yeah, it does. But I'm fine; I like just hanging out while you work Seto." 

            Mokuba smiled, and Seto felt a little tug at his heart. He was glad that Mokuba liked being around him, and was grateful for the company, but he still wanted him to have fun. After all it was his first visit to the States, and he didn't want Mokuba cooped up in an office building all day long. 

            "Well, if you want you could go to the walk, and check out the shops down there…" 

            Mokuba gave his brother an incredulous look and Seto laughed, "Why the shocked look?" 

            "Well, I wasn't…you mean it…I can go there?" Mokuba said suddenly smiling, and Seto nodded. 

            "Yeah, I figure it's too nice a day to have you stuck in here, there's nothing to do but stare at the sky. Besides you'll be board out of your mind during the meeting I've gotta go to." 

            Mokuba jumped up and hugged his brother tightly around the waist, he'd wanted to check out the boardwalk since the moment he'd seen it when they arrived in Venture. He had hopped that Seto could have come with him, but his big brother had been extra busy and Mokuba didn't want to become a pest or a distraction so he'd sat there quietly: reading a comic or watching the flat screen tv, or just staring out the window, until Seto was done with work for the day. 

            "Any way you can sneak out for a little while and come with me?" Mokuba asked, he knew the answer would undoubtedly be 'No', but he had to ask anyway. 

            Seto shook his head, he would have liked to take a break, but work came first, especially now. "Sorry Mokuba, but I've got to get this done first…" he paused then added, "But I'll come down and meet you there for lunch right after my meeting, okay." 

            "Sure big brother," Mokuba said and Seto pulled fifty dollars American out of his wallet handing it to Mokuba. "Uh, what's this for?" 

            "Heard the gift shops are a bit expensive," Seto shrugged, "Just don't spend it on one thing, okay." 

            Mokuba gave his brother another tight hug and ran for the door, thinking, "This is going to be fun!" 

            "Hold up," Seto called to him as he hit the button on his phone for his secretary Amy. 

            "Good afternoon Mr. Kaiba," purred the young woman's voice, and Mokuba made a face. Seto smiled at him; Mokuba didn't like Amy because she was always trying to flirt with Seto, and he knew it. Not that he minded Amy was an attractive woman, just not his type.  

            "Amy, got a job for you. Is Lucy Housen busy right now?" 

            "No Mr. Kaiba," Amy's sing-song voice came over the speaker, "I don't believe so. Do you want me to page her?" 

            "Yeah, tell her to meet Mokuba downstairs, she's going to be his guide for the day. There going to go to the boardwalk," Seto looked up at his brother whose face twisted into an expression of horror. Mokuba didn't like Lucy at all, but Seto knew that she was the most reliable of all the people working for him at the moment, and she would keep a good watch on his little brother. "Thank you Amy." 

            Mokuba's jaw dropped, and Seto said calmly, "Lucy will meet you downstairs, so you better hurry if you don't want to get an ear full." 

            Mokuba pulled his eyelid down and stuck out his tounge at Seto, who mimicked the same expression and pointed to the door as if to say, "Out. Go, get!" 

            He watched as his little brother shut the door with a bang and heard his receding footsteps. Seto sighed, and pulled out his deck, thumbing through the cards and coming across the very first Blue eyes he'd ever received. He smiled thinking, "What would I ever do without you Mokuba."  


	2. Chapter 2: The Girl in Blue

Blue Destiny

            Copyright: Yugi-oh and the cast are all owned by Shonen Jump publishing, Kazuki Takahashi, Viz communications, Kanomi and Upper Deck, as well as 4-kids entertainment, and Tokyo TV. 

            Author's notes: Had to revise the ages, due to certain situations that will come into play later on. Sorry if this inconveniences anyone.  

Chapter 2: The girl in Blue

            Mokuba raced ahead of Lucy as they walked down Venture Promenade, as the boardwalk was called. The place was amazing! Tons of people wearing different outfits, in semi states of dress, wandered the walkway. There were skaters performing tricks on skateboards and inline skates. Several ramps were set up for the bike riders to do their most complex stunts. A few riders were showing off on unicycles. Clowns and magicians wandered about showing off their latest magic feats, and Mokuba was thrilled when he got picked to help out with one trick. The jugglers who were putting on the show told him to stand real still as they tossed knives and fiery torches around Mokuba's head. He wished Seto had been there to see how brave he'd been, but was pleased to see Lucy nearly faint at the sight. 

            Lucy Housen was a tall lean woman with brown hair pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head and a sharp pair of black glasses. She looked more like the caricature of an old fashioned school mistress. Once the show was over Lucy pulled Mokuba aside and snapped at him, "Mr. Kaiba, how many times have I told you not to go putting yourself into dangerous situations! What would you brother think…" 

            Mokuba thought a second and said, "He'd say I was making the first step to be a better businessman by taking a chance in getting myself burned." 

            Lucy let out a loud exasperated sigh and pushed her bangs back into place. It was quite hot out, and she was dressed in her work cloths, and heels, making it that much harder to keep up with the eleven year old Mokuba. He smiled at her as sweetly as he could and asked, "So what next?" 

            "Next we find a place to sit down," Lucy spat and took him by the wrist. "Honestly, it's much to hot to be running about on the pier today. And there's too big a crowd." 

            "Means there would be more people looking out for me," Mokuba said, and Lucy rolled her eyes. 

            "More like more people who would turn a blind eye. It's different here then in Japan Mr. Kaiba, there are people here who are more then willing to kidnap a little boy." 

            "Why's that?" Mokuba asked curiously and Lucy shrugged as they paused to let two cyclists pass them. 

            "Not sure, but I need you to be careful," she spotted a table near a café and sat down. "Now you have your phone with you…" –Mokuba nodded and showed her –"and you know my pager number. Okay so here's the plan. You can go up to the Arcade, but no further, and call me every ten minutes. I'll be waiting for you over here…" 

            Her phone went off suddenly, "Hello, Lucy Housen. Mr. Kaiba. Yes your brother is here, and you want me to tell him that the meeting will be at three, so you'll be coming for lunch around four-ish. I see. Alright sir, I'll find a place to make a reservation. Yes sir, I'll keep a good eye on him. Thank you sir, have a nice meeting." 

            Lucy looked at Mokuba and said, "Alright you have a half an hour to play for yourself, I expect you back by three, got that, and then we're going to have to find a place to eat." 

            Mokuba nodded and agreed to meet Lucy back at the table where she was waiting. He wandered down the boardwalk and watched some of the other performers. There was an acting troop doing a very short version of Romeo and Juliet, making the audience laugh. Two men in stilts were jumping on pogo sticks and making balloon animals. There were a few bands, and a guy that was showing off some grifting techniques. Mokuba made his way around all these acts and soon found himself at the arcade that was at the pier. He glanced inside and saw a number of kids that were a little older then him. Two girls came out carrying stuffed version of a Time Wizard and Graceful dice. They were giggling and one was going on about how great it was that you could win Duel Monster merchandise inside. 

            "Hmmm," thought Mokuba and he walked inside. The place had loud music blaring, and lights flashed on and off as people won games. There was a disco ball that reflected several colored lights that flashed from the ceiling. The noise level was enough to distract anyone, and Mokuba started to re-think coming inside, when he spotted two very unique baseball caps sitting at the tip top of the prize group. They were black with a pair of Blue-Eyes White dragons embroider on the front. The guy at the counter, a boy that couldn't have been much older the Seto looked over at him and saw what he was looking at. He was dressed in a Hawaiian flowered shirt over a white tank and a black Giants cap turned backwards on his head. His hair was unkempt, but he had a kind of silly smile, and winked at Mokuba with a knowing look to his blue eyes.  

            "Pair of sweet caps, ain't they." 

            "Yeah, uh, how much are they," Mokuba asked but the guy shook his head when he pulled out the fifty.

            "Can't buy 'em little man. Gotta earn 'em. Play the games, win the tickets, and then come get them." 

            "Well, "Mokuba asked, slightly annoyed, "How many tickets then?" 

            "Hundred and thirty," the guy said and took Mokuba's money, "I'll cash it in for twenty dollars okay. And here's a free tip, the video games in the back give out the most tickets in the joint." 

            "Okay," Mokuba said, taking his change and the tokens. The guy at the counter pointed out the direction and he started to wander towards the back. Half way there he found a large group of teenagers making bets on a miniature version of Duel Monsters. Mokuba recognized it as one of Kaiba Corps smaller holographic tables. He gently pushed his way through the crowd and saw that there was a big boy with a green t-shirt that barely fit over his portly belly, spiky red hair, and ugliest face Mokuba had ever seen. It looked like he had smashed his nose into a wall, and stretched out his face to draw attention from the flat nose. This boy was on one side of the table, with some money on the edge; Mokuba counted at least a hundred dollars, and had out a Celtic Guardian and an Uraby. He was grinning nastily at his opponent, which Mokuba could not see.  

            "What do you think of that, and I'm gonna pull out my Call of the Haunted, and that will bring back my Silver Fang." The boy looked extremely sure of himself, that's when Mokuba heard a yawn from the other side of the table. Some of the teens had moved just enough for him to see that the opponent was a girl wearing blue. She laid down two cards, and suddenly the boys Guardian and Uraby vanished. Then a third card that destroyed his Silver Fang, and Mokuba heard her say. 

            "Finishing with Tremendous Fire," and the boy's life points were wiped away. His ugly face fell and he growled a curse word at the girl. 

            "Hey, not my fault that you suck at this game," she said to him in a tired voice. "Waste of my time you know…" 

            "I'll show you a waste of time…" the boy started to say, when Mokuba saw the guy at the counter march over, his brow narrowed and angry.

            "I thought I told you punks, no gambling!" 

            The boy with the strange face gave the counter guy an annoyed look, "But we wasn't…" 

            "Yes you 'was'" hissed the counter guy and the two started to argue. Mokuba quietly slipped away from the scene. He didn't want to get into that mess at all. Besides he needed to get those hundred and thirty tickets for the Blue Eyes caps. As he wandered to the back he saw a stark white hand take the money from the side of the table, and disappear into the crowd. A hand went on his shoulder breaking him from watching the other hand, and a boy asked. 

            "Looking for the video games?" 

            Mokuba nodded, and the boy thumbed to a row of Duel Monster arcade games along the wall. "Middle one's the best for tickets, and if you beat the high score you get a bonus." 

            "T-Thanks," Mokuba said as he hustled over to the arcade games. He noticed that the screen flashed the name Blue Destiny Entertainment, as the game started. He'd heard the name mentioned by Seto that morning, and the night before. Blue Destiny was supposedly the best video game company in the world, and was head quartered here in Venture. Mokuba shrugged and put in his tokens, and the game came to life. 

            The game was basically a strategy/battle game. Select three monsters to start with, gain more as you beat levels, and unlock hidden monsters during the game. You had to collect different items in order to keep your monsters health up. Mokuba chose three monsters, La Jinn, Karibo, and Ryukashan to start with and the game began. 

            From where she stood the girl with the white hand could see the screen of the arcade game that the boy with the black hair was playing. She smiled, sipping her drink, and chuckled in her mind. Already a small crowd was building around him, after all he looked like he was only a bit older then ten, and seemed very intent on winning the game. 

            "Trial of the Pharaoh's Servants", at the time it had sounded like the perfect name. Naturally the setting would be Ancient Egypt, and –as per Mr. Crawford's rules – the characters would unlock only if the person was truly able to understand the secrets of the game. What a pity it was, the girl thought, that the boy would play the game for nothing. No one had gotten to the level twenty, out side of herself. And no one would ever be able to unlock the key to winning the game. Unless, they were really good; and in her opinion, the boy would probably loose just like all the others that had tried to tackle it. She had to wonder why Steve, the guy at the counter, had sent him to the back in the first place.

            The girl was getting board now, a number of guys had surrounded the boy and the screen was blocked from view. 

            "Ah, well," she thought getting up and stretching, "at least the morning wasn't a total waste…" 

            "Holy crap!" a shout from someone in the crowd made her pause mid yawn. "This little dude just unlocked the Black Magician!" 

            "Check out the score man," another chimed in, and the girl felt a sweat drop slip down her face. "He's only in the third level and look at that score! No one's gotten so high so fast!" 

            The girl wandered over, she was…intrigued. Glancing over the others in the crowd she saw the screen and let out a light gasp. It was true; the boy had already unlocked the Black Magician, and was nearly done with the third level. 

            "How the hell is this even possible," she muttered to herself watching him play. The game was designed specifically not to unlock the Black Magician until the tenth level, and even that was early for most players. But this, this…. Boy… had managed to unlock him even before the harder levels. She wandered to the back of the crowd, and wondered, "How is he doing it, how?" 

            "Hey check it," she glanced up, "he's just warped jumped to level twelve! Little dudes unstoppable." 

            This made the girl's eyes widen. No way was it possible, yet it was true. He'd found the hidden warp hole and was jogging along merrily as if he'd created the game himself. She was perplexed to find that she wasn't angry at him; rather he reminded him of someone who had been very close to her. She listened as the crowd roared, and saw that he was beating the harder levels now. 

            "Two more to go dude, you can make it!" shouted one boy. And the girl moved closer to watch the final battle. 

            Mokuba felt hot, the crowd that had gathered to watch him play was right on top of him. The heat and the smell from all of them so close together was stifling to him. Couldn't they give him a break, or was this how all Americans acted when they were excited about something. He was on level twenty now, the final level of the game. All he had to do was fight off the Black Skull Dragon and he was finished. 

            But as he started to engage the monster in battle he realized that none of his monsters were strong enough to beat it. He'd managed to find the three hidden Blue-Eyes in the game, but he couldn't summon them in the castle. His fingers were cramping up, and he felt sick. 

"How long have I been playing?" He wondered as the Skull came at full force. Mokuba didn't even see the attack coming. He swallowed hard as the Skull Dragon reared up and came at him again. Only by invoking a trap card was he able to deflect the attack. His life points were falling faster then he expected. And the Skull Dragon wasn't even warmed up. It roared viciously at the Black Magician and Battle Ox, who were standing their grounds. 

"Dude, oh man, I don't think he's gonna make it," a voice whispered in the crowd. 

"Looks like he's gonna be sick man." 

"Poor guy. He was doing so good, too." 

"Stupid kid shoulda picked a different monster…" 

The whispered comments rang loudly in Mokuba's ears. He lowered his head. What had he been thinking?! He never should have tried to play this game. It was too hard, and he was hungry, and tired. 

"Little kids shouldn't play with grown-up games," the boy with the green shirt snorted in the back, and Mokuba gritted his teeth. He'd show him who was little. He was Seto Kaiba's brother, the World Champion. He wasn't about to let some dumb game beat him, not now, not when he was so close to winning. 

"But how?" a voice broke into his thoughts. "How can you win if you don't have the right cards or monsters on the field?" 

"Wrong cards," Mokuba thought. Then he realized that the two monsters he had out were not enough to over power the Black Skull by themselves. It was then that that the computer invoked a spell and a magic card attached itself to the Black Skull, Metal Nails! That raised the Black Skull's attack by five hundred, and Mokuba watched in horror as the Skull unleashed a terrible blow on Battle Ox, destroying it instantly! 

"Oh no!" Mokuba shouted, watching in horror as the Skull turned its attention to the Black Magician. Mokuba felt hot tears come to his eyes. He couldn't loose. Why was this happening now?! He closed his eyes waiting for the final blow that would wipe out all his life points. And he knew he didn't have time to restart the game. 

"I'm sorry Seto," Mokuba thought bitterly, "I'm not as strong as you are…" 

"Right, left, jump, magic, trap, trap, magic, jump, up, down, down, right," a confident voice said into his ear and he saw a white hand placed atop his. 

"Like this," the voice said, and Mokuba looked up. There was a girl standing behind him, her long white hair hung down around the sides of his face as she leaned over him to see the screen, but he couldn't see her face all that well. She had a kind voice, a type that once you hear you can't ever forget. It wasn't light and bubbly, but sweet with a ting of…sadness to it. The girl's hand rapidly guided him through the sequence, saying it again. "Right, left, jump, magic button, trap button twice, magic again, jump and up, down twice in succession, now right and hit the attack button." 

Mokuba did as was told and from behind the Skull came a burst of bright light. Then he saw the three Blue-Eyes that he collected fly into the light and from that light emerged the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. There were several audible gasps from the crowd, but the girl's voice whispered again. 

"Okay, here's what you do, attack with the Black Magician, now while the Skull is distracted to weaken it, then use the middle head of the dragon on it. That will make it confused, then, while it's confused, summon the Magician of Black Chaos, and attack with both it and the Ultimate Blue-Eyes at the same time. Skull head won't know what hit him." 

"Alright, here goes," Mokuba said as he followed her instructions again, and watched as the Black Magician became the Magician of Black Chaos. The two monsters hit the Black Skull Dragon with all they had and the whole screen went white! When the screen's fuzz cleared the scene quickly shifted to a victory celebration and the Pharaoh thanking the Magician and the Blue-Eyes. The words Winner displayed, and prompted Mokuba to type in his name. He did so, and when he turned around the crowd was just staring in awe of him. Suddenly a guy in the back screamed. 

"ALRIGHT!!!!!" and the rest of the crowd cheered Mokuba with shouts of, "Amazing," and "Never seen anything like it," and "You da boss, man." "Where'd you learn to play like that…?" 

Mokuba wasn't sure what to say, but he smiled and took his tickets as they spat out of the machine. As he hustled over to the counter to claim his prizes, he saw the girl with white hair, in blue jeans, and a blue tank top, finishing up a soda. He wanted to go up and thank her, but she was soon covered up by the crowd of boys and girls who wanted to talk to him. 

"Um excuse me, but I have to get going," Mokuba laughed as his hand was shaken again and again. And several people patted him on the back telling him he was, "Awesome" and "Rockin'" He hustled up to the counter, and glanced at the clock, he had five minutes to get back to Lucy. He hopped he could make it in time. The guy at the counter, who congratulated Mokuba as well and mentioned that his name was Steve, told him he had enough to get the two hats and forty left over tickets. Mokuba chose four packets of Duel Monster cards, a case for cards that had a Blue-Eyes carved onto the cover, and two key chains that had the "Duel Monsters" logo on the front.  

Steve put this all in a bag for him, and plopped the second cap on his head. "There you go champ. Only a true Dragon Master can play with Big Blue…" 

Mokuba smiled brightly and thanked Steve again. Then ran out of the store. 

            From where she sat the girl in blue watched as Mokuba left with his prizes. She glanced up at the still clanging machine, and saw the score. He'd beaten the last record holder, which was her, and she let out a half smile. 

            "Well, that's okay; I'll just come back tomorrow and beat his score by triple," She finished off the drink, tossed the cup in the trash, and headed out onto the boardwalk. 

To be continued…

Author's footnote: Grifting, for those who don't know, is card tricks and scams that some people play on the streets. It use to be a viable trade for con-artists, but now it's used by up close magicians and others who perform outside.  


	3. Chapter 3:New Friends and Foes

Blue Destiny 

            Copyright: Yu-Gi-Oh! the title, all names, and characters are property of Kazuki Takahashi, and Shueisha Inc. Tokyo –publishers of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Also the translations are set up by Viz publisher of Shonen Jump here in the States, 4-kids entertainment, and Warner Brothers entertainment. Um I think that's it. 

            Authors Note: I forgot to mention this in my first chapter; I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford.  

Chapter 3: New Friends and Foes

            Mokuba rushed down the pier as fast as he could, his bag swinging wildly. A huge smile was on his face and he laughed thinking of how Seto would look when he saw the caps. 

            _"Here you go Seto, I won this for you. I beat this really cool game, and everyone was so impressed." Mokuba would tell him handing him the cap. _

_            "Thank you Mokuba," Seto would say and put it on, "I really like it."_

            Mokuba was so proud of himself; he couldn't wait to show Seto the caps. And, if the meeting went well, maybe Seto would be willing to spend the rest of the day on the boardwalk. He couldn't help but grin at this thought. Lucy would leave them alone and they could go check out the rides at the end of the pier. Get some ice-cream and just hang out together. That's what he really liked to do, just hang out with the coolest big brother in the world. 

            He was so into thinking of things to do with Seto after lunch that he didn't see two roller-skaters rush past. One knocked off his cap, and Mokuba shouted, "Hey!" 

            "Sorry," the second shouted as they sped away. 

            "Jerks," Mokuba thought bending down to pick up his cap. Just then a strong gust of wind blew off the water and made the cap skid down the boardwalk. "Wait, come back!" 

            Mokuba chased after the wayward cap down the rest of the boardwalk, pushing past people who yelled at him to watch where he was going. 

            "'Scuse me! Sorry 'bout that. Pardon Me! Could you please move!" He kept saying as he veered between the many legs that littered the pier. Gasping for breath he ran as fast as his small legs would let him. The Blue-Eyes cap danced just out of his reach, as if taunting him. 

            "Oh no you don't…!" Mokuba shouted, and dove at the cap when it settled and shook as if getting ready to fly over the railing. 

CRASH!!!! 

He landed hard on the wooden boardwalk, and the cap skipped up out of his hands reach. Mokuba gritted his teeth, and scrambled to grab it. But the wind was faster and it knocked the cap further up in the air and settled it on the edge of the railing, shaking it gently in the breeze. Mokuba got up and hurried over to the railing and reached out for the cap when the wind grabbed it again and pulled it over the railing. 

"No!" Mokuba shouted and lunged at the cap. He was going over the rail, and almost had the cap in his hands, when a pair of strong arms pulled him back and held him tight.  "Let go I have to get that cap!" 

"Settle down son, "the man who grabbed him said. "Can't have you jumping over these rails, you could get hurt!" 

"I don't care," Mokuba shouted. "I need to get my cap! I have to…Please let me go…Please! I need to get my cap. I have to get it before someone takes it!" 

The man still wasn't letting go. Mokuba felt hot tears come into his eyes. He was hot and angry. Why didn't the man understand! Why wasn't he letting him go! "I need to get my cap!" 

"I'll get it!" a familiar voice said, and Mokuba saw a flash of white hair glide past him. It was the girl from the arcade that had helped him win the game. She swung over the railing and onto the metal handrails on the adjacent stairs that led down to the beach below. She glided down on her blades and grabbed the bill of the cap as the wind pushed it upwards again, then caught the end of the railing and flipped to land on one knee in the sand, the hat raised up in victory. 

"Way to go girl," a boy with a skateboard shouted. 

"Catching some air, alright!" a girl yelled. 

"That was tight!" another voice said in the crowd, and the girl made a theatrical bow. 

"Thank you, thank you, and no flash photos please, I'll be here all weekend. Venture Rocks!" the girl joked and came up the stairs. The man let go of Mokuba and a woman gave him his bag. 

"You dropped this back there Hon," she said and Mokuba thanked her. When the crowd was gone, the girl in blue skated over to Mokuba and handed him the cap. 

"Here, I think you dropped this," she smiled and Mokuba got a good look at her for the first time. She had bright sapphire eyes that matched perfectly with her blue outfit, and her hair was pinned back with two blue barrettes, her nails were painted blue too and even her blades were blue and silver. And she had the nicest smile he'd ever seen. The only thing that seemed very much out of place was the fact that her skin was bleach white, and so was her hair! 

"Um, thank you," Mokuba said as she put it on his head. 

"Don't want to go loosing that," the girl laughed. "You worked too hard to let the wind snatch it, Cutie." 

She winked at him and turned to skate off into the crowd. Mokuba suddenly felt his heart skip a beat and he got a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't a sick feeling like he was going to throw up, it was something way different, and something he'd never felt before. When other people had called him cute he'd hated it. He would rather eat a dog biscuit then be called cute by anyone. But with this girl, it wasn't that way at all. In fact he like it that she thought he was cute. He was thinking about this when he realized that he was going to be late, Lucy would kill him. Mokuba took off running.

"Oh man," he thought back tracking. "Lucy's gonna be mad, it's almost three!" 

Ahead he saw a large crowd of people watching a new stunt team on bikes, and they were blocking his way. Mokuba let out an annoyed groan and ducked around a small café. If he couldn't get through the crowd, he'd just go around them. Without waiting Mokuba ran down the tight semi-alley. The cafés in the area put their trash and crates out behind here during the day, and the place reeked. But it was better then trying to wade through so many people on the main walk. As he ran along he wondered what Seto would say seeing him using the alley. 

_"Why didn't you just tell them to move?" _Seto would ask. It was easy for him, after all he was tall, and could look very imposing. On the other hand Mokuba was shorter then his big brother and it was harder for him to get his way. Although suffice it to say that Mokuba could certainly seem imposing when push came to shove; after all he'd managed to buy off the owner of a candy store, and capture Yugi in order to get revenge for what Yugi did to his brother. Mokuba had his own little gang in school, and everyone knew who he was. But here he was just another kid on the boardwalk, and he had no real influence at all at the moment. Mokuba sifted over some crates and was just about to go out onto the main boardwalk, when he happened to hear a nasty voice say. 

"So, you gonna hand over that bag of yours girl, or are my boys gonna to have to take it?" 

Mokuba stopped, where had he heard that voice before? He knew that he'd heard it earlier, but whose was it? 

"Hey boss," a nasally voice said. "You thinks we should cut her?" 

"Yeah I wonder what color her blood is," another voice chuckled. That was it, regardless of what time it was Mokuba wasn't about to stand by and let someone get cut! He turned around and followed the voices further into the alley. Peeking around a corner he saw three boys: one was short, dressed in a black hoodie, a skull cap, brown baggy jeans, and gym shoes. Another was tall and lean; he had his hair spiked, and had on a red tank, black jeans, with several long chains hanging out of his pockets, boots, and several metal bands on his wrists and a spiked dog collar on his neck. The middle boy Mokuba recognized by his portly shape, and green t-shirt; he'd seen him at the arcade. The three were facing someone, their back facing Mokuba and they had not seen him. 

"So what do you think, girl," the fat boy said to the person they were harassing. "You want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" 

"Look, I don't know what you morons want," said the girl's voice from behind the trio. "So leave me alone! I don't have time for your idiotic rambling." 

Mokuba got a little closer to see who they were talking to; he slipped behind some crates, and gasped when he saw that it was the girl from the Arcade. Her face was red, and bruised, they had obviously been beating her up. Mokuba felt ticked. How dare they attack her, she was his friend. Well sort of, she'd helped him out, and he wanted to help her. The girl with white hair was standing up and her eyes flashed angrily at the trio. Fat boy chuckled, and leered at her viciously. 

"You're lying. You took that money, I know because no one else would be dumb enough to take cash from Porky Hogswallow. And I'm betting you've got it in that purse of yours. So hand it over, and we won't hurt you…much." 

"Not a chance," the girl said and held up her fists, ready to defend herself. "Not my fault that you decided to play against me. Shoulda thought about it before you went and left it out in the open! It's gone, so deal with it!" 

"Benny, Bruce," Porky said looking to the two other boys. "Shut her up…" 

CLONK!! 

A large crate fell over on Porky and knocked him down. Benny and Bruce were too shocked to move, and Porky pulled himself up, rubbing his sore head. 

"Where'd that come from?" asked Benny the kid with the skull cap. Mokuba saw his face now, and it was just as ugly and Porky's. He had buck teeth, and an upturned nose, with freckles all over his face. Bruce was just as bad with several piercing all over his face: nose, eyebrow, lip, and one long chain that went from his mouth to his ear. He had a long large nose that gave him a bird like appearance, and a long chin. 

"Ugly, uglier, ugliest," Mokuba thought moving around behind the crates. He glanced in one of the smaller crates and read the sign. "Tomatoes" –he reached in and felt something go squish between his fingers –"Hey, rotten tomatoes, these could be useful."  

Mokuba heard the sound of Bruce rummage around the crates, "I can't find anything up here Pork. You sure the damn thing didn't slip…" 

Mokuba scooted back away from Bruce's large shovel like hand, he couldn't be found now. Not yet at least. Mokuba ducked under the older boy's hand, and came up by some over rip pumpkins. He shoved the box closer to Bruce's hand, who, while feeling about, promptly stuck it in the week old pumpkin remains. 

"YEECH!" Bruce exclaimed pulling his hand back. "What the hell is going on here?!" 

Bruce was annoyed now, as he reached in with his other hand, and Mokuba stomped hard upon it. That made Bruce jump back and shake his hand wildly. 

"B-Man, what happened?" Benny asked. The girl tried to take advantage of the situation and bolt, but Benny grabbed hold of her by her arms, and clicked open a knife. "Not so fast girl! Like you got any place better to be." 

"Something stepped on my hand!" Bruce shouted, his hand now turning red. "Somethin's in there." 

"Well flush it out!" Porky told Bruce; who nervously went back over to the crates and tried rooting around one more time. Mokuba was ready, and smacked Bruce's hand again, this time he used a piece of board. Bruce yelped, and saw that his hand was cut. He was sick of getting hurt, and roughly shoved aside the crates. To his surprise Mokuba was sitting there, with the remaining tomatoes, smiling. 

            "Hi there," Mokuba said with a sly grin. 

            "What the…?" Bruce started to say, but was cut off when his face was bombarded with rotten tomatoes. The juice stung his eyes, and the pulp went in his mouth and up his nose, and the pierced boy stumbled backward crashing to the ground. Mokuba jumped down then, and faced the other two boys. Both who were looking just dumbfounded. 

            "Alright you jerks, let her go, or I'll really get angry!" Mokuba shouted at them, armed with a tomato. Porky looked to Benny, who returned the shocked look. Then Porky started to laugh, loudly, and Benny chuckled in a manner similar to a chicken's. 

            "So what're you gonna do you little long haired punk, huh?" snorted Porky, and he guffawed, sounding much like his farm animal counterpart. Mokuba smiled, it was just what he wanted that big jerk to do. 

            "This!" He launched several tomatoes at the two boys, most of which splattered over their faces and one large disgusting one landed right in Porky's mouth. Porky started to choke, and sputter, as Mokuba climbed back up on the remaining crates, and shoved a number of boxes of garbage onto the two boy's heads. 

            "Look out!" Bruce coughed, as Benny and Porky –who got the worst of it –were covered in old food, paper, and other unmentionable material. Mokuba jumped down, and faced the boys. 

            "So, you jerks gonna give up, or do I have to get extra tough?" He asked them, thinking of how his brother would face the situation. Mokuba hoped he didn't look scared, because he was. It was only him against three vicious boys. And he knew they would have no problem beating him up, since they attacked the girl that had helped him. 

            Porky moaned under the large pile of trash that covered him, "Get him!" 

            "Uh-oh!" Mokuba thought as Bruce got up with a nasty smile. 

            "With pleasure," Bruce said and pulled out a switch blade knife. He giggled; lowering his head and making him look even more hawk-like. 

            "Oh man," Mokuba thought and started to back up. He didn't have anything on him to defend himself, and took a step back. 

            "Heh Heh," chuckled Bruce, and motioned with his finger. "Come here little boy so I can show you how we deal with little brats in Venture who don't mind their own business." 

            Mokuba felt his heart race, what was he going to do? He couldn't just leave the girl there, she needed his help, but he was out of options. He wished Seto were there, or Yugi, he even wouldn't mind if it was that wanna-be Jonouchi was there as well. Seto had told him that Jou had a record for getting into, as Seto termed it 'Bar-Room brawls', so he could be very useful right about now. Mokuba backed up slowly, but soon found that Bruce was leading him into a corner. He'd never get out, and he swallowed hard. Bruce came closer; a dangerous gleam in his eyes, and a nasty chuckle escaped his lips. 

            "This is it," Mokuba thought closing his eyes, "Good-bye big brother, I'm sorry." 

            "YOWWW!" Benny's scream made Bruce stop and look. The girl had stomped on his foot with her rollerblades, and ground the wheels down hard enough to break his toes. She elbowed him in the gut, and screamed to Mokuba. 

            "RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" 

            He didn't need to be told twice. Mokuba dashed out from the corner and raced around the bend, when he stopped, and doubled back. "Hey losers come and get me!" 

             Mokuba saw that the girl had hit Benny again, and his nose was bleeding. His cat calling made Bruce stop, and the girl plowed right into him, knocking him to the ground. Mokuba grabbed her hand. "Come on, this way!" 

            The two raced down the narrow passes, and crawled over the trash bags in the small alleys. Mokuba heard the shouts of Porky for his boys to chase after them, and bring them back. Obviously both were not in good condition to go chasing after him or his partner in crime. The girl pulled him aside by a door way, and she said, "In here, it'll be faster." 

            Mokuba followed her inside and found himself in a large kitchen. Steaming hot pots and pans were all over the place, and the waiters didn't seem to notice them. The chefs were too busy with their orders to care if they were there or not. The girl motioned for Mokuba to crouch down below a table, and she grabbed a large decorating bag filled with frosting. She put her finger to her mouth, and Mokuba followed her gesture. He soon observed why she had wanted him to be as quiet as possible. He saw Bruce's boots from under the table cover, and held his breath when the boy stopped by their hiding place. Mokuba looked to the girl, who shot him a 'Be quiet' look with her bright eyes. 

            "Man, where did those pains in the ass go to?" Mokuba heard Bruce say, he saw the boots shift several times, and finally turn to the left as if to leave. Mokuba smiled at the girl, but she was making a funny face, and he realized she was going to sneeze. He tried to cover her mouth, but wasn't fast enough and she let out a sudden 'Kerchoo'. Then covered her mouth realizing that she'd just given away their hiding place, and Mokuba noticed Bruce's shoes come back. He stood there for a few seconds, and to Mokuba they felt like the longest seconds ever. Then the table cover was whipped up, and Bruce stuck his ugly mug under the table. 

            "Ah…" he said, and the girl squirted the cream in his face. Mokuba jumped up and shoved Bruce hard, knocking him into an oncoming waiter. Both crashed to the floor and Mokuba and the girl ran out of the kitchen. They zipped through the dining room and out onto the boardwalk. Shouts from the kitchen could be heard outside and several people got up to see what the problem was. 

            "We better get out of here," Mokuba said to the girl who nodded. They made their way further from the commotion, and over to a small stand selling shaved ice. Mokuba looked over at the girl who was catching her breath. "Are you okay?" 

            "Fine," she said, trying to smile and was about to say something else, when she gasped. "Oh crap!" 

            Mokuba looked in the direction she was and saw Benny hurtling head long for them. He zigzagged his way through the pedestrians, and was coming up fast. 

            "Now I've got you…" he shouted, when two performers stepped in front of him.

            "Hey Merve, better call an officer, got a bleeder here," said the first man in stilts. The second pulled out his cell phone, while the first said to Benny, "Now you come with us, and we'll get some ice for that nose of yours." 

            Benny tried to pull free of the man's grip, but he wasn't strong enough and the two performers led him further from Mokuba and the girl. Rather then take a chance the girl grabbed Mokuba by the hand and pulled him down the boardwalk, and they stopped by a bench. She sat down and let out a groan. Mokuba sat next to her, and she smiled at him. 

            "Sorry about all that," the girl was saying to him. "Didn't mean for you to get into that sort of trouble…" 

            "Well it's about to get much worse," a voice said and both were startled to see Porky standing in the middle of the board walk. He was still covered in junk, and smelled like a dump, but he was smiling smugly at them. Mokuba got to his feet, and stepped in front of the girl. 

            "I won't let you hurt my friend," he shouted at Porky who grinned fiercely. This made Mokuba nervous, but he held his ground, arms spread as if trying to block a wave of water. 

            "Who says I wanted to hurt her," Porky said and took a step closer to Mokuba, he was holding Bruce's knife in hand. "It's you a want freak." 

            Mokuba gritted his teeth; they really were in trouble now. The girl had led them to a deserted area of the pier, and it didn't look like there was anyway to block Porky from attacking them. 

            "Leave us alone!" Mokuba shouted as loudly as he could, hoping that it would scare Porky. It didn't. 

            "Is that all you have kid," mocked Porky. "Leave us alone, leave us alone, we'll that's gonna happen when hell freezes over." 

            "If you don't, something really bad will happen to you," Mokuba bluffed, and narrowed his eyes. Porky only laughed again. 

            "Yeah right, like I'm gonna be hit by a bus, or something. Get real, there's no one here to save…" 

            "Move out of the way!" shouted a man who was ridding a bike, behind him were at least five other riders. "Move it kid, we can't stop!" 

            "Huh," Porky said then screamed as the bikers crashed into him, sending him flying and crashing into a trash can. The girl looked at Mokuba with utter disbelief, and he blushed. 

            "I guess a troop of bikers will do," he said laughing weakly, and the smiled at him. She took his hand and the two wandered away from where Porky was lying unconscious. When they finally found a place to sit, the girl leaned back, and gave Mokuba a big smile. He felt his cheeks get red, but smiled back. 

            "My hero," she laughed, and gave him a hug. "But why'd you help me? You don't even know me." 

            "Well you helped me," Mokuba laughed, and felt his heart thump hard in his chest. "So I had to do something." 

            "But all I did was save your cap, and help you win a game. That was no big deal," The girl said and Mokuba's eyes went wide. 

              "Oh no! My bag!" He jumped up and looked at the girl with worry. "I must have left it back in the alley." 

            "Well then we'll just have to go and get it," said the girl getting up. Mokuba followed her back to the alley, and he was relieved to find it lying on the ground near the crates. The girl also found her purse, and Mokuba quickly asked. 

            "Why didn't you give them the money?" 

            "Because I don't know anything about…" the girl started to say, but Mokuba cut her off. 

            "I saw you take it off the table. Don't lie to me, please." 

            The girl turned and gave him a sad smile, "Well, now, I take it you're a white knight then, huh?" 

            "A what?" 

            "A white knight," the girl explained. "It's someone who tends to do the right thing; like saving damsels in distress, or acting like a hero. Yeah I took it, but I gave it back to the people who he stole it from in the first place." 

            "Oh," said Mokuba sheepishly rubbing his head. The girl smiled again and held out her hand. 

            "My name's Gwen." 

            Mokuba took it, and smiled back, "I'm Mokuba." 

            They both laughed, it had to be the strangest meeting for both of them. Gwen and Mokuba made their way back out onto the boardwalk, and she glanced down at her watch. 

            "Oh man, I've got like five minutes, shoot. I'm gonna be late." 

            "Huh? Late for what? " Mokuba said and she showed him her watch. He gulped; he had less time to get back to Lucy. She was probably worried, and when she saw him covered in grim, she was going to have a fit. "Oh man, I'm gonna be in big trouble if I don't get back to Lucy." 

            "Who's Lucy?" Gwen asked perplexed. 

            "A lady who's watching me," Mokuba said as he tried to rub some of the sweat and grim off his face and hands. 

            "Oh a baby sitter, "Gwen said knowingly, Mokuba nodded, he didn't have time to explain what she really was. He grabbed his bag, and Gwen turned to go. 

            "Well nice meeting you, Prince Charming," she laughed and Mokuba stopped. She'd just called him Prince Charming; did she like him that much? He turned around and shouted to her. 

            "Hey Gwen, do…do you want to have lunch?" 

            She looked even more perplexed now, "Lunch?" 

            "Yeah, lunch with me and my brother. He has a meeting, but he's going to be coming. Can you join us, please?" 

            Gwen thought a moment, then nodded her head, "Sure why not. In fact I know this great little Italian joint 'DeAntonio's" over at the other end, near the Rio Carnival, that's the place with all the rides and stuff. Just tell them that 'Blondie' sent you, and you'll get first class treatment." 

            "Great, see you at four then," Mokuba said with a huge grin. "Well bye for now." 

            Mokuba turned and hurried back to where Lucy was waiting. He had three minutes to make it, but even if he was late it was worth it. He'd made a new friend, and couldn't wait to introduce her to Seto. He was so excited; nothing could bring him down today. 

            "Right see you at four," Gwen yelled watching Mokuba wave and then rush down the boardwalk. When he was out of sight, she sniffed a little, and turned on her skates. She breezed down the pier till the end, then turned onto the sidewalk and headed towards a parking area near a small beach. The only car there was a BMW limo, colored silver with tinted windows. Gwen skidded up to the car and went around to the passenger side. She stopped by the window, and tapped at it. The door opened and a brown haired man in a black suit stepped out. He had a stern look on his young face, and crossed his arms. 

            "You're going to be late," he said and Gwen shrugged. 

            "He can wait," she opened the door, and climbed in. "You brought my suit I hope, Donovan." 

            "Yes, Ma 'am," said the man and he got back into the passenger side of the car. He indicated to the driver to start the car and head down the block. In the back Gwen pulled out a blue suit, and rolled up the window between her and the driver. Then she pulled off her shorts and shirt and re-dressed herself in the blue suit. When she was done she lowered the window, and started to comb her hair. 

            "So, did you check what I asked you to," Gwen asked Donovan as he pulled out a laptop. 

            "Yes, and you're right, he is Seto Kaiba's little brother," he replied and handed her the computer. Gwen looked over the information. An unpleasant smile slipped onto her face. 

            "Excellent," she snapped the cover down. "If plan A fails then I have a B. And you know what; I hope that he doesn't give in today. Makes things that much more fun, for me at least."

            "May I ask why?" Donovan asked carefully, and Gwen gave him a cruel grin, and let out a sharp chuckle. 

            "Let's just say, I'd like to see what would happen if you pit two brothers, who are devoted to one another, against each other." She glanced out the window, and spotted a boy and a little girl skating. The scene made her pause, and she grew angry. Seto Kaiba would pay for making her life miserable. He was going to learn the meaning of suffering, and she was just the person to teach it to him. 

            "By the way," Gwen said and Donovan looked at her through the rearview mirror. She pulled out the money she'd taken from the boys. "Put this in the bank would you." 

            "I thought that was what we were going to pay them with. I found them like you said, and told them to go and rough you up, just like you asked me. " Donovan said to her as she put on some make-up to cover the bruising, and Gwen frowned.  "I didn't expect them to be so brutal. You said it would make the perfect bait. They will be expecting some form of monetary payment."  

            "After what they did, not a chance, but they will be paid," she made a fist and Donovan nodded. "Make sure they understand that if they say anything about this to anyone, it will be very bad for their health." 

            "Ms. Scotts," the driver said softly, "We're nearly at the building." 

            "Thank you, Douglas," Gwen said leaning back in her seat and smiled to herself. Soon she would have what she desired, and Seto Kaiba would be the one in pain. Two years she had waited for this chance, and no way was she going to blow it. She would have the Blue-Eyes, nothing was going to stop her. As they turned into the main drive of the office building, Gwen composed herself. 

            "Don't worry," she thought clipping a broken locket to her neck. "There's nothing that is going to stop me, Nothing." 

            She got out, and smiled, "Get ready Seto Kaiba, you've met your match." 


	4. Chapter 4: Game, Set, Match

Blue Destiny 

            Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh.  Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

            Author's note: Just recently learned that there's a big difference in how Seto's foster father died in the manga vs. the anime. But it just makes this story more interesting. 

I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford. 

Chapter 4: Game, Set, Match

            Gwen looked over the waiting room for the temporary headquarters of Kaiba Corp. She smirked; of course someone who had as much money as Seto Kaiba would only spring for the best room in the building. Her eyes crossed the walls, noting the paintings. Obviously picked by someone other then Kaiba, probably a paid decorator –one that had ungodly taste for the pathetic –as they were pretty bland. She'd never seen the main Kaiba Corp tower, but had heard that everything there had some sort of theme based upon the Blue-Eyes. Right down to the color scheme on the walls. So sitting in this pastel drab room made her annoyed. Did he think that she would be moved by seeing a plain place like this? What an utter fool. 

            His secretary was just as bad, a smug young woman who kept looking at her like she was some sort of vixen. Gwen smiled sweetly at her and the girl, Amy, if she remembered right –not that Gwen cared, looked down at whatever she was reading. Most likely some sort of teen magazine, how perfectly like the bubble headed bimbo. 

            "Don't worry dear, I won't take him away from you," Gwen thought viciously, "I'll just break his heart then puree and pulp it." 

            Donovan tapped her on the shoulder and bent over to whisper into her ear, "Gwen, are you certain you want to do this? I mean you can wait…" 

            "No, I've waited long enough," Gwen hissed at him, and Donovan stood up again. He gave her a slightly saddened look, and then wandered over to the other side of the room, picked up a magazine and sat down. Gwen frowned; why was he so worried. It wasn't like he was going to be the one dealing with Kaiba. It irritated her that a boy, not even a man yet, could make so many grown men so nervous. He had a reputation for being a brat, a smug self-righteous bastard. But she could handle that, Gwen had dealt with people that would make even the strongest of men into cowing children. 

            "Ahem," Amy cleared her throat, and Gwen looked up. "The board members will see you now, Ms. Scotts." 

            "Thank you," Gwen said coldly, and brushed past the receptionist. Donovan followed, and Amy stuck out her tongue behind their backs. The board room was a dark black color, with a deep brown long table, and large glass windows. Two older gentlemen in business suits were sitting opposite each other at the end near the glass windows, and between them sat Seto Kaiba. He seemed board to be there, and Gwen gave them all a tight lipped smile. 

            "Welcome Ms. Scotts. I assume this is your assistant, er, Edward Donovan," said the first business man, he had on a silver tie. He looked at Donovan who raised an eyebrow and the man quickly looked to Gwen. "We were so happy that you were willing to hear our proposal." 

            "Indeed," said the second man, he had on a green tie. "Um, are you expecting anyone else?" 

            "No," Gwen said sitting down, and crossed her legs. "I do all my business myself. I find it much simpler to have only one person in charge of a business then to deal with a bunch of talent-less peons."

            "Ah ha, well then," said the first man, and he glanced over at his partner. "Allow me to introduce myself and my associate…." 

            "No need to bother," Gwen said smugly. "Like I said, I don't deal with peons. If, Mr. Kaiba has something to propose to me, then he better tell me himself, as I have more important matters to deal with today. So what's your deal, Kaiba…" 

            "Or would you rather me address you as, Dirty Rotten Bastard," she thought keeping her smile on her face.  Seto looked up at her with a rather irritated glance, and Gwen shot him a tight lipped smile. 

            "Listen, Ms. Scotts," Seto said coolly, "obviously neither of us wants to be here. So I'll make it simple. You have something I want, and I aim to take it." 

            "Humm," Gwen was examining a lonely plant, "really, now that's interesting. So what is it that you want to take from me?" 

            "Not that you care that you already have the most important thing in the world to me," Gwen thought disgustedly, while maintaining her calm nature. Seto pulled out a file and slid it over to Donovan who was sitting next to Gwen, and he handed it to her. 

            "All the information that you need is inside that file," Seto explained briskly and watched as she skimmed it fast, then tossed it aside. 

            "Let's cut the bull, Kaiba," Gwen said softly and leaned forward, glaring at him with a sneer. "You want the land that's north of here. The very lands that I own; and you want it for a little theme park of yours, don't you. A paradise for children, like Disney Land, except different, and to your own specifications. Am I right? I'll be blunt, fairytales, and idealistic fantasy doesn't fly around here. Especially not with me; the world's not a lovable place, and you of all people should know that.

            Gwen leaned back as she continued, "Me, I like to live in a world known as –_reality_ –you should look into it some time, you might find it much more refreshing then the bitter little fantasyland that you like to live in. Let's face it, the only reason you need me here is because you want me. You want my company, and my name, and everything that goes with it. You've tried to get some help from the other companies in town, and they've all let you down. Welcome to the real business world Mr. Kaiba, no one gives a damn about your dreams. They just want to grind you down until, like a hunting dog that's gotten too weak for its own good, they put you to sleep." 

            The two businessmen glanced anxiously at each other as Gwen concluded, "This is the truth, Mr. Kaiba. Blue Destiny isn't interested in little play-lands. We have more significant investments to maintain. Unlike Kaiba Corp, who seems oh so engrossed in the world of Duel Monsters, Blue Destiny actually has a future. And I'd rather not get stuck with some worthless and useless park, Kaiba. Oh, but wait, it's your perfect little dream isn't it. How utterly sad it must seem to you that it will never get off the ground."

  Seto glowered at her, how he hated her at that moment. How dare she come and mock him like this. Who did she think she was? She had no idea who she was messing with, and that was going to cost her.  He gritted his teeth; she was just like Crawford, the same smug selfish attitude. Did she think he was some sort of infant that she could talk down to? Or was she trying to get his goat right off the bat for some odd reason. He wasn't sure, but he knew one thing, he loathed her with every ounce of his heart. This place wasn't just for him, it was for Mokuba. A place that his brother could be proud to show his family, something that would solidify the name Kaiba in everyone's minds. Not just as a World Champion, but someone that others could look up to. Maybe it was a dream, but it was his, and no arrogant bitch would be taking it from him. 

            "However," Gwen concluded, and snapped her fingers. Donovan grabbed a file out of his briefcase, walked over and handed it directly to Seto. "I'm one for compromise. If you humor my request, I might consider relinquishing my deed to the land. That is _only if you comply with the request." _

            Seto glanced from Donovan to Gwen; her assistant's face was impassive and hard to read. Gwen just gently put her hands together and smiled. Her sickeningly sweet façade made him ill; he wanted to smack that fake grin off her face. But, he abruptly flipped open the file and found only one piece of paper inside. He read the single sentence, then over again, and slapped the file closed. His brow narrowed and he jumped to his feet. 

            "Just where do you get off making that request," Seto spat and Gwen gave him a toothy grin. "You can have any cards in my deck, an entire briefcase full of cards, but not those. There is no way in hell I am letting you have _those_ cards." 

            "Well, it seems I've hit a nerve," Gwen said serenely. Seto sat down and in a cooler voice said. 

            "I'll make it clear to you Ms. Scott, I don't like you. I don't know what game you're playing, but rest assured, I will win and you will be very sorry you tried to attack me. Believe me I have no qualms about taking thing from others, and I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. Do we understand each other?" 

            "Perfectly," Gwen said getting up and came over by Kaiba, and got right into his face. "But, be assured that you shouldn't go hastily tossing about threats, Mr. Kaiba. You see, I** own **Venture City. The mayor, the politicians, the corporations around here, they all follow my lead. And if I'm not happy they're not happy. So if I wanted to I could have you evicted from this building and make your life so miserable here in the states that you'd never be able to come back. Or I can make it that when you leave, you'll be sent home with a toe tag. Do we understand each other?"

            Seto gave her a smug smile, "Do you have any idea who you're threatening, Scotts? You think you scare me, heh; you have no idea how scary I can be. Or how far I will go to protect my own interests, especially when it comes to my family, so before you go throwing out your own threats, be assured that whatever you do to me, I will deal it back. Only it will be ten times worse, and you might not survive it."

            Gwen scowled at him, and stood up. She snapped her fingers again and Donovan grabbed the brief case. "Let's go Donovan; I have more important matters to deal with then this ass." 

            Gwen paused at the door, and looked at the stunned businessmen, "Oh and I would think over my request Mr. Kaiba. You don't want me as any enemy. I tend to go for the jugulars." 

            She shut the door and the two businessmen looked at Seto. He was so angry he was visibly shaking. His fists were balls, and his teeth were gritted so hard his jaw hurt. The first man looked at his partner, worried. The second nervously glanced at the first, who reached over to see if Seto was in a state of shock. His eyes were dilated as if he was looking at something far off, or at least thinking of something far away. The first man gently touched his shoulder and Seto lashed out at the man, who jerked back. 

            "Mr. Kaiba, are you okay?" asked the second man. He looked over at the first man who was gasping. "Sir, I'm sure you are upset but…" 

            "Get out," Kaiba said softly. "Get out now, while you can." 

            "Y-yes Sir," the second man said and the first man followed the second from the room. They shut the door quietly. Seto picked up the file and read the sentence again: _You want the land; I get the Blue-Eyes._

            He viciously threw the file into the garbage and got up. He needed to get out of the office, needed to get far away from anything that remotely reminded him of Gwen Scotts, and her egotistical, self-centered attitude. In his mind he'd killed her; he'd used his Blue-Eyes and had it attack her, and burnt her to ash. It had been a nice thought, something to unleash his anger upon. There was no way he would _ever give her his Blue-Eyes White Dragons. She could have any other card in his collection, but the Blue-Eyes' was _his_, and no one was ever going to take it away from him. _

            On the boardwalk Mokuba sat waiting with Lucy. He'd been five minutes late, and she'd read him the riot act. 

            "What if someone had taken you, huh? Did you ever think of that? How would it look if I had to say to your brother that you were lost? Do you have any idea how worried I was?" 

            "More about your job then me," Mokuba thought as she yelled at him. They were sitting at DeAntonio's waiting for Gwen and Seto to come. Lucy was fuming, but was trying to look calm and sure. Mokuba snorted, just about everyone, outside of the techs that worked at Kaiba Corp, tried to impress his big brother. So seeing Lucy nervous was nothing new to Mokuba. He sipped his lemonade, and glanced up now and again at some of the customers that wandered out of the main eating area inside the restaurant. Some were dressed in shorts and t-shirts, and had walked off the pier. Others wore business suits, and some were dressed up as if going to a big expensive party. Mokuba found it interesting, but soon got board by the parade of people going in and out, and let out a sigh. 

            "Lucy," he asked and she snapped. 

            "What?" 

            "When's Seto going to come?"

            Lucy sighed, "I don't know, but when he does, I'm going to tell him about you're little escapade. Really, nearly getting beaten up by a group of hoods? Why didn't you call the police? No you _had to act like a hero, and you got all dirty and grimy because of it. Just because a girl helped you, doesn't give you the right to go and act like some little knight in shining armor.  What would your brother say?" _

            "I'd ask why you weren't around to make sure he stayed safe," Seto said coming up behind Lucy. When he came out of the board room Amy told him that she had called, and left a message about where to meet Mokuba for lunch. Mokuba smiled seeing Lucy's face turn pale. 

            "M-Mr. Kaiba," she stuttered, "I-I didn't see you…I mean, I was watching him sir, but he wanted to go off on his own, and when he came back he looked like this. So I asked him what happened, and he told me that some girl who'd saved a cap for him was in trouble, so he tried to help her. Supposedly she was being threatened by a group of local boys, and your brother roughed them up some how. Ran into a café's kitchen, nearly got knifed, and was almost run over by a group of bicyclists…." 

            "And where were you when this all happened, Ms. Housen?" Seto asked, a glint coming into his eye. 

            "Me, Sir," Lucy looked uneasily at Kaiba, who nodded. "I, well I was waiting for him at a designated spot…" 

            "So instead of watching him, like I asked you to, you were slacking off," Seto concluded, eyes closed and arms crossed. He wasn't even looking at her, but could tell she was sweating. A smile inched onto his lips; some how this made him feel better knowing that he was making her distressed. She should be, after all she'd been in charge of keeping his brother safe, and she'd failed miserably. 

            "No, sir, you're taking this way out of context," Lucy tried to defend herself. But Seto was tired of hearing her talk. 

            "Enough, I'm tired of your excuses, Ms. Housen." Seto shot her a fixed stare that paralyzed her. "We'll discuss this matter later." 

            He gave her a sharp smile that sent a fearful shiver down her spine. For a fifteen year old boy Seto had looks that could scare a hungry tiger. Lucy lowered her head slightly and nodded, then dejectedly got up and walked away from the restaurant. Mokuba, who had been quiet until then, started to giggle; it wasn't that Seto had told Lucy off, but rather the way the people around them had stared at the scene. Seto looked like an average teenager, and anyone who met him was always struck by how mature and self self-confident he acted. Then they would get a glance at him in this mood, and how quick he knocked people down with just a few well placed words, and they would immediately give him leeway. 

When Mokuba smiled up at Seto he was met with a stern look from his brother, and lost his smile. He was in trouble. Seto, while being the best brother in the world –in Mokuba's eyes, still kept Mokuba in line. He had to play the part of brother, father and mother, a balancing act he was finding harder and harder to keep up. After all Mokuba was growing up; and there were questions that Mokuba asked that he had no answers for. Some made him very nervous, and were things that only a _real Father or Mother could answer. So when it came to discipline Seto treaded dangerous water. He didn't want to be strict like their step father, but he couldn't let Mokuba get away with everything. _

            "Well," Seto said, arms still crossed and frowning. "I'm waiting…" 

            Mokuba looked sheepishly at his drink, "Seto I…" 

            "Just tell me what happened, in your own words," Seto said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. He was upset, but he wanted to hear what happened from Mokuba. He knew his little brother wouldn't go around picking fights just for the fun of it. He'd learned long ago, like Seto, that just making people uneasy could be much more effective then actually fighting them. But if it came down to fists, Seto wanted to make sure Mokuba could handle himself. 

            "Well, you see," Mokuba started to say. "There was this girl…" 

            Seto raised his eyebrow, "Now this is interesting…" 

            "Maybe I should start from the very beginning," Mokuba said, and Seto nodded. "See I went to this arcade, and there was this really cool video game. And I started to play it, but I couldn't get past this Black Skull Dragon, and this girl came over and she helped me with a password. Well I did manage to get to the end of the game without her; I just couldn't get past this last boss." 

            "Uh-huh," Seto said with a hint of impatience and Mokuba quickly sped up the story.

            "Well I won the game and then I lost…" He paused and shifted he wanted to surprise Seto, and not give away the caps just yet. "Let's just say that it was something I won, and she went and rescued it for me. So I was hurrying back to meet Lucy, like I promised, but then I heard someone yelling, and I went to go see what was wrong. And I saw the girl that had helped me in trouble, it was this jerk named Porky Hogsworth and two of his goons, and they were threatening her. So I… well I found some rotten fruit and dumped some trash on them.

            Seto let out a mild sniff, but a small smile slipped past, and gave Mokuba some confidence as he continued, "Then they started to chase us, my friend gave one of them a bloody nose, and we hid in this kitchen. Well the one with all these piercing came after us, and she shot him in the face with whipped cream, and then we got out onto the boardwalk. And another one, the one with the bloody nose, came after us. But these two guys on stilts got in his way. And just when we thought it was safe, that Porky guy found us. But he was run over by a bunch of wild bikes!"

            Seto blinked, the whole thing sounded like some wild movie, but Mokuba looked earnest about everything. So he simply asked, "And why were they after her?" 

            "Well, she sorta took their money," Mokuba explained and Seto sat up. 

            "Took their money…" 

            "Yeah," Mokuba explained. "See she was dueling them at the arcade, and some of the kids there were making bets, and when Porky wasn't looking she took the money from him." 

            "And you know this how?" Seto asked suspicious of Mokuba's new friend. He wondered why a person who took bets on duel games would be dumb enough to get cornered by the very people she took the money from. 

            "Well I saw her take it, "Mokuba admitted, but quickly added, "But she said she gave it back to the people that Porky got it from in the first place." 

            Seto shook his head and sighed. Mokuba had always been the more optimistic of the two of them. If anything he was far more trusting of people then Seto had ever been. He couldn't even remember a time when he trusted someone so readily, outside of Mokuba. That was one of the reasons he didn't like Yugi Motou. Yugi was very trusting of everyone, and believed that there was always some good in people, in some way or another. No matter what the situation, Yugi was always trying to tell Kaiba that he needed to trust in other people. But Seto wasn't about to be that gullible, he just hoped that Yugi's little trusting ways wasn't rubbing off on Mokuba. He didn't need his brother getting hurt because he'd believed in someone. To Seto there was only one person he trusted and relied on, and that was himself. 

            "Seto," Mokuba's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he glanced at his brother. Mokuba reached into a bag near his feet, and pulled out a black baseball cap with a Blue Eyes White Dragon embroidered onto the face. "Here, I won this for you, at the arcade. It's what my friend saved for me. The wind got hold of my cap, I have the twin, and when I saw it I thought how much you would like to have it. "

            Seto gently took the cap from Mokuba and looked at it. The cap was so simple, but to Seto at that moment it was worth more then any of the finest designer suits he could buy. He smiled at Mokuba, who grinned back. 

            "Thank you Mokuba, I really like this a lot." 

            "How did I know you would say that," Mokuba laughed, then looked serious. "I hope you're not mad at me…I was thinking about what you would do. I wound up using rotten tomatoes as weapons. Got one guy in the face with the juice, it was funny. " 

            "No," Seto said putting the cap back in the bag. He wondered if Mokuba had noticed that his ears had gotten slightly pink from hearing his little brother compliment. "But I am somewhat disappointed. I had hoped that you would have at least given them a black eye or something." 

            Mokuba grinned at his brother; it was Seto's way of saying everything was okay. "Are you hungry big bro?" 

            Seto waved over a waiter, who brought them both menus. For the next few minutes the duo looked over the list of food, and then Seto heard a ring and pulled out his cell phone. 

            "Kaiba," His face fell, "What do you mean that the prototype failed, I thought you had all the bugs worked out…" –He glanced over at Mokuba and mouthed, 'Morons from the main headquarters. I've gotta take this, don't move' and he walked away into a quieter corner. Mokuba smiled, and looked down at the list of foods. Several dishes caught his eye, but he didn't quite get what they were, and was about to ask a waiter for some help, when a white hand pointed to a special at the bottom of the page. 

            "This has gotta be the best linguine in all of Ventura," said a very familiar voice. Mokuba looked up and saw Gwen smiling down at him. Her hair was now pulled up into a set of pig tails, and she'd changed into jeans and sandals.

            "Gwen," Mokuba said and she slid into the seat opposite where Seto had been sitting. "I'm so glad you made it, I thought you'd forgotten." 

            "What, and miss a free lunch," she waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "Like that would ever happen. Besides I couldn't stand up my little heroic prince, now could I." 

            Mokuba felt his cheeks grow hot, why did it only happen when Gwen was around. "So how was that thing you had to get to?" 

            "Huh?" Gwen said lazily, "Oh that, okay I guess. But it doesn't look like the guy I met with wants to do business with me. See I told him he'd get what he wanted if he gave me this card I want, but he's not moving. So I'll have to wait and see what happens next." 

            "Oh," said Mokuba. "Well why do you want the card so badly, can't you buy one?" 

            "Not this card," Gwen said shaking her finger. "This card is very very rare, and very important to me. One of a kind in fact, and I wish there was some way of getting it." 

            "Well, I hope that guy changing his mind," Mokuba said as Gwen ordered a lemonade for herself. "If the cards that important to you, you'll get it some how." 

            "Oh believe me, Mokuba," Gwen said with a sly smile on her face, "I will get what I want…" 

            "Excuse me," a waiter came over, "Are you ready to order?" 

            "Not just yet," Mokuba told him, and looked over at Gwen. "Can we wait for my brother, he'll be back really soon." 

            "Fine by me," Gwen said and thought, "I can't wait to see his face when he sees me here." 

            The waiter shrugged leaving the two to gab about duel monsters. Mokuba was impressed by the fact that Gwen knew so many cards by heart, and they started to play a game. Mokuba would name a card, or an effect, or attack and defense points with an attribute and type, and Gwen would name the card, or what the attack or effect was. This went on for several minutes, enough that when Seto walked back to the table they didn't notice him at first. It was only when he suddenly barked, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

            Mokuba surprised by his brother's reaction upon seeing Gwen. However Gwen just smiled pleasantly at him, while Seto's eyes burned furiously. He shot Mokuba a look that read, "Talk now!" 

            "Um, Gwen, excuse us for a moment," Mokuba said getting up and following Seto away from the table. 

            "No problem, I'll just wait here," she said waving at Mokuba as he left. Seto knelt down and looked him right in the face as he spoke. 

            "Just what in the world is she doing here?" 

            "What do you mean, Seto," Mokuba said startled at how angry his brother looked. "I invited her for lunch." 

            "You invited that witch!" Seto spat, and Mokuba glared at him. 

            "Hey, don't call her that, she's done nothing to you." 

            "Oh, she hasn't has she," Seto thought looking over Mokuba's shoulder at Gwen who was talking excitedly with some passersby. "Just what are you up to now Scotts?" 

              Seto returned his attention to Mokuba who looked very confused and hurt, "Mokuba, do you know who this girl is?" 

            "Sure I do," Mokuba said irritably, "she's my friend, and her name is Gwen." 

            "So you know who she is then?" Seto looked shocked by this, and Mokuba didn't understand why. Why was his brother acting all weird? It wasn't like Seto to just up and yell at someone with no reason at all. 

            "Yeah, I know who she is," Mokuba rolled his eyes. "She's my friend. Seto what's wrong, why are you acting all funny about Gwen? Did something happen at the meeting today?" 

            "Something happened alright," Seto thought wrathfully as he looked over at Gwen who waved at him. "I smell a rat." 

            "Nothing to concern yourself with, Mokuba," Seto said seeing his brother looking worried. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you. That girl over there is the same one I met today and she…" 

            "Um, excuse me," a waiter wandered over, looking slightly annoyed. "Sir's the lady would like to know if you will be joining her for lunch." 

            Mokuba nodded, "We'll be right there." –The waiter nodded once then headed back over to their table. Mokuba shot Seto a sideways glance, "Listen big bro, I'm not sure what happened today at that meeting. But don't take it out on my friend, okay. Let's just have a nice lunch and you can tell me about it after she leaves. Please Seto, be nice to her." 

            Kaiba sighed; how was he going to tell Mokuba that the girl sitting with them wasn't his friend, she was an enemy. She wanted to take his Blue-Eyes, the very card that Mokuba had given him when they were little. That card meant everything to Seto, and he would be damned if she used Mokuba to get it from him. But there was little he could do about it now. So instead he followed Mokuba back to the table, and smiled tightly at Gwen. 

            "Gwen, I'd like you to meet my older brother Seto Kaiba," Mokuba said as Seto put his hand out and Gwen took it. "Seto meet my friend Gwen." 

            "Charmed," Gwen said with a smile, she flinched when she shook Seto's hand, he was gripping as hard as he could. A warning to her not to try anything while he was there, and Gwen understood quite well what he was getting at. 

            "We've met before, Mokuba," Seto said calmly, his voice took on a superior tone, and his grin became more dangerous. "Not to long ago, was it Ms. Scotts." 

            "Oh, now I remember you," laughed Gwen, and she smiled at Mokuba. "Well now that we've had introductions, can we eat, I'm starving." 

            They all sat down and ordered, much to the waiter's relief. Seto watched Gwen like a hawk as she spoke to his brother. 

            "So, how do you know Seto?" Mokuba asked. 

            "Well, if you must know, I'm the head of Blue Destiny Enterprises," Gwen said with a grin as her plate of linguine was set before her. 

            "You are," Mokuba said and she slurped up her noodles. 

            "Uh-huh. Sorry I didn't tell you before." 

            Mokuba looked worried, "Then the guy that you were telling me about before…" 

            "Wasn't your brother," Gwen smiled at Seto, who glared back at her. "Nope, it was a guy I met a few minutes after you left me. Sorry to disappoint you like that." 

            "No, it's okay," said Mokuba relieved. He had been anxious that Seto had been the person Gwen was talking about. He knew that his brother could be a jerk at times, but he'd hoped that he'd not been one to Gwen. 

            "In fact your brother was the perfect gentleman," Gwen went on, as Seto gripped the fork tighter. "We talked quite a bit, and I think we reached a rather unique agreement. Don't you Seto?" 

            Seto shoved a shrimp in his mouth, if he blurted out now what he was thinking Mokuba would be upset. So rather he just ate his food. Gwen's smiles were starting to get on his nerves; every word she said was twisted just to make him squirm. She was good; he had to give her that, but not good enough. 

            "Hey Gwen," Mokuba asked, and she blinked. "Can I see your deck?" 

            "Sure," she pulled the small purse from under the table and unzipped a side pocket, then handed her deck over to Mokuba. "There you go." 

            Mokuba glanced it over and was surprised at what he found, "Whoa, these are all Dragon and Spirit type cards." 

            Gwen laughed, "Yup. Spirit cards are cool, they come right back into your hand so you can use them over and over again. I've always liked Dragons though; they're such a great type of card you know. Especially when you have just the right one; Am I right Seto?" 

            "Seto has some cool cards too," Mokuba told her, and Gwen's smile became more of a toothy grin. 

            "Imagine that." 

            "Yeah, he's got some of the rarest cards in the whole game," Mokuba went on, and Seto was biting his tongue so hard he could almost taste blood.  

            "Humm, can I have a look?" Gwen asked boldly, and Seto choked. She knew she had him; he couldn't refuse her, not with his brother there.

            "Well," Mokuba said and looked at his brother who gave him a very annoyed look. "I don't think so. They're his cards so you have to ask him."  
 

            "Oh really," Gwen said, and smiled at Kaiba. "So how about it, can I see the World Champion deck?" 

            "Sorry, I don't like to show my deck off," Kaiba said smoothly. "After all, you never know when there's a thief just itching to take a rare card." 

            "Humm, I suppose you're right," Gwen said looking disappointed. Mokuba saw this and felt very upset at his brother. How could he be so mean to his friend? After he'd asked him, begged him, to be nice. 

            "Seto, why can't she see your deck? It's not like she'd going to take anything from it," Mokuba said, and Seto looked calmly at his brother. 

            "Uh-huh, and what makes you think I have it on me." 

            "You ALWAYS have it on you," Mokuba shot back and Seto shrugged. 

            "Not today, Left it back at the hotel. Sorry." 

            "You're being mean, Seto." Mokuba said softly to him. "She only wanted to see the deck, she let me see hers." 

            "Oh well," Seto said taking another bite. "Not my problem." 

            Mokuba let out a loud sigh, "I need to use the washroom." 

            "Go ahead then," Seto told him and Mokuba got up and left in a huff. When he was gone Seto threw down his fork and glowered at Gwen. 

            "What sort of stunt are you trying to pull here, Scotts? Just what is your game? Trying to use Mokuba to get at me; well let me tell you something, it won't work. Crawford tried it with me too, and his men learned a lesson. And unlike him, you don't have any weird powers or whatever it was he used on me. You're just human." 

            "Very true," Gwen said softly as she finished her food. "But let me tell you something, Kaiba. There are things in this world that a person will do anything to possess. Things a boy such as you will never ever really understand. See that's your problem, how do you know I'm trying to use you're brother. Maybe I really do like him. Or maybe you're just jealous of him. Maybe you'd like it if he only relied upon you, and you'd like to lock him up in a steel cage where you can always keep him. You want him to be just like you, don't you Seto Kaiba. A lonely, pathetic fool, who has no friends, and no real understanding of things like love, compassion, or mercy; you'll wind up worse then Howard Hughs. Stuck in a room where all you do is stare at the walls, haunted by the past, with only your daydreams as companions and no one to mourn you." 

            Seto gripped the table hard as he spoke, "Get out of here right now Scotts. If you ever come near Mokuba again, so help me I'll take great pleasure putting you in a room where it's always cold, and the only companion you'll have is the mortician." 

            "Oooo, threats now, how nice," Gwen said getting up and throwing down her napkin. "This lunch is getting boring, and I have other things to do today." 

            "What make other people's lives miserable?" Seto hissed and Gwen smiled kindly at him. 

            "No that I'm doing just for you, Seto." 

            She turned to leave when Mokuba hurried out from the restaurant, "Hey Gwen where are you going?" 

            "Got some place to be, Cutie," She bent down and kissed him on the cheek and saw Seto grit his teeth. "Besides my guardian wouldn't like it if I got home too late. She's going to be worried about me." 

            "Okay," Mokuba said sadly. He really didn't want Gwen to go, but he understood. Seto was always running off to deal with business; he wished sometimes that they were never adopted by Gozaburo. That way Seto would have more time to spend with him. Gwen waved at Kaiba and headed back down the pier, she smiled to herself as she waited by a small fountain. 

            "He'll find it soon enough," she thought and sat down by the water, and started to wet her face. 

            Back at the table Mokuba sat down, and looked miserable. Seto on the other hand was stabbing at the remained of his food, she was going to pay.

"That bitch!" he thought vindictively as he caught a piece of broccoli, "I _know she's up to something. Kissing my brother like that, that little…"_

  When he had calmed down enough he looked at Mokuba. His brother was playing with the remainder of his food, and didn't look like he was going to eat anymore. Mokuba felt just a little annoyed with Seto, Gwen might have left because she felt weird around him, and Seto had done nothing to help the situation out. He'd noticed that Seto kept sending her nasty looks, but he didn't understand why. Kaiba put down his fork, and Mokuba glanced up, "Something wrong, Seto?" 

            "Kid, I've never forbidden anything from you, but this time there's someone that I don't want you seeing anymore. I don't want you hanging around Gwen Scotts. Got it? No talking to her, no seeing her, and if you do see her, you ignore her. Understand." 

            "Wha…" Mokuba said jumping up. "Why…Seto what's wrong with you? She just wants to be my friend." 

            "Kiddo, listen, that girl is nothing but trouble," Seto told Mokuba who looked down at his shoes. "Please Mokuba, do what I ask. Just this once, I've never asked it of you before, but I'm serious about this. Don't go near her." 

            Mokuba nodded weakly, and Seto let out a long sigh. "Listen, I'm going to be right back, I need to get something to drink. Stay here okay." 

            "Yeah, sure, whatever," Mokuba said dejectedly. Seto got up, a look of sadness in his eyes, but he had to do it. Gwen was up to something, and she was going to use whatever means she could to get at him. Seto couldn't let her use Mokuba, she'd break his heart. He'd seen the way the kid looked at her, and he was sure there was the beginning of a crush. He just hoped that he could cool Mokuba off before he wound up getting hurt. 

            Mokuba kicked his feet irritably under the table thinking, "It's not fair.  Why is he being so mean to her? She just wanted to see his deck, what was the harm in that…" 

            Klunk! Mokuba looked under the table and gasped. Gwen had left her purse, with her deck, under the table. Mokuba picked it up and looked at it. He glanced over to the doors where Seto had just gone inside, and thought a second. Then got up and hurried away from the table. Maybe if he was fast enough he could find Gwen, and get back _before Seto did. Mokuba hurried down the boardwalk in the direction he'd seen Gwen go, and found her sitting by a fountain, sobbing her eyes out. She looked up and he saw her face was all puffy and her eyes were red from crying. _

            "Oh, Mokuba, I lost my purse," she cried. "I thought I took it with me, but I don't remember. And now my deck is gone. I don't care about the money in the purse; I just want my deck back." 

            Mokuba handed her a tissue, then smiled and held out her bag. Gwen gapped, and hugged him tightly. "You found it, oh you darling prince! How can I ever thank you…" 

            "Just don't tell my brother that I brought it to you, okay," Mokuba asked her and was about to head back to the table when Gwen grabbed him by the arm. 

            "I've got it, tomorrow I'll meet you down here and I'll show you all the sights of the board walk. What do you say?" 

            Mokuba looked up at her shining face, he thought a long time. He'd just promised his brother that he wouldn't go near Gwen, but when she smiled at him like that, he couldn't help but smile right back. She liked him, he knew it. Seto was wrong about her, she was a good person. So he nodded. "Yeah, sure I'll meet you down here, Gwen. I promise."   


	5. Chapter 5:Deception

Blue Destiny 

            Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh.  Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

            Author's note: Yea, two reviews, hopefully there will be more after people check out the new chapters. ^_^

            I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford. 

Chapter 5: Deception

            "Seto?" Mokuba wandered into his brother's office, his face all smiles. Seto looked up from his computer, and smiled back as Mokuba gave him a hug. 

            "What's this all about?" He asked hugging Mokuba back. Seto had been making an effort to become even closer to his little brother after what happen during Battle City. Being forced to relive the life that they had led when they lived with Gozaburo had given Seto some new insights; the biggest one was that he needed to build up Mokuba's trust in him. He'd been so obsessed with beating Yugi Motou that he'd forgotten about his own dreams, and what he was like before he'd moved in with their tyrannical foster father. 

            "Just wanted to let you know I'm not mad at you," Mokuba said. The night before when they came back to the penthouse that Seto was renting for them, Mokuba had not talked to Seto at all. Seto had come out before Mokuba had come back to the table, so he had to lie to his big brother to cover up for where he'd been. Mokuba felt bad about doing it, but felt hurt when Seto had yelled at him for not listening. He had not spoken to Seto for the rest of the night. In the morning he'd remembered his promise to Gwen, and figured the best way to see her was to make up with his brother. After all, he realized, Seto might have the wrong impression of Gwen. He had to at least try and get Seto to see that she could be his friend as well. 

            "Oh, is that all," Seto gave his brother a knowing look. "Nothing else…" 

            "Well, um, one little thing, maybe…" Mokuba admitted, and Seto leaned back in his chair. 

            "Uh-huh, I thought so. What is it this time?" 

            Mokuba clasped his hands together, took a big breath and said, "Please, please, please, Seto can I go back to the boardwalk today. I'll be extra good, and not get into trouble. Pretty please, with a scoop of mint chocolate chip, and pecans?" 

            Seto blinked, "Why do you want to go back there?" 

            "The arcade," Mokuba told him. "I wanted to see if I can beat another game. Maybe win something different."

            "Really," Seto said, slightly suspicious of his little brother. He knew that Mokuba was just as good as he was playing video games, but he'd never shown this much interest in them. He was more into Capsule Monster Chess, which he was regional champion, then any computer game out there. "Huh and why the sudden interest in the arcade?" 

            "Well, um," Mokuba thought fast. Gwen would be waiting and he didn't want to keep her waiting. "You see I thought it would be cool to beat as many games as I could and put Kai on there. You know, so everyone knows that my big brother is still the best gamer in the world."

            "And this has nothing to do with any other prizes on the pier," Seto asked with his eyes closed and thought," or anything to do with a certain girl who you promised to stay away from, Mokuba." 

            "Nope," Mokuba said, still grinning. Seto looked up, he didn't believe his brother. There was something insincere about what he was saying. But he wasn't about to say that to Mokuba. He knew his little brother knew better then to lie to him, or break his promise. "Honestly Seto, don't you trust me." 

            "I shouldn't let you go, you know," Seto said slowly. "After all you weren't exactly on your best behavior yesterday…" 

            Mokuba's face fell, his plan wasn't working. He was stuck, and he was worried that Seto could see right through his strategy. Gwen would be disappointed, he'd promised to meet her there, and it was already two. 

            "However, I think I can let you go," Seto said and Mokuba perked up. He jumped up and ran for the door. 

            "Wait a minute," Seto said, and Mokuba stopped. His brother stood up and crossed his arms. "There are three rules: You only have till Three-thirty, remember we were supposed to see a movie tonight. Second, you'll be going with Price." 

            Mokuba's mouth fell, "That dopy bodyguard?! Come on Seto, you've gotta be kidding me…" 

            "Nope," Kaiba said shaking his head. "Price is going with you, and I don't expect you to give him a hard time." 

            Mokuba sighed, "Alright, what's the third thing then." 

            "You keep your promise, remember. Stay away from Gwen Scotts," Seto said in a cold voice. "Because if I find out that you broke your promise to me, you will be in a world of trouble." 

            "Like what?" Mokuba asked nervously seeing that his brother was very serious. 

            "Like being grounded for three months," Seto said as he ticked off fingers. "No tv, no games, no Capsule Monsters, and no leaving the Apartment. You come either here, or stay at home. And no going out on your own, and that's just for starters." 

            Mokuba's jaw dropped, "Seto that's not fair." 

            "I think it is," Seto said looking down at his little brother. "I'm just doing this to protect you Mokuba. That's all." 

            "Okay fine," Mokuba agreed and Seto gave him some money. "Thanks Seto, I'll be back by three –thirty. I promise." 

            Mokuba smiled as he left the office. He just hoped that whatever Gwen had planed they could get it done by at least three o'clock. 

            Seto waited until Mokuba had left, and picked up the phone. He was about to ask Amy to get him two of his assistances, but stopped. He put it down and sighed. He had promised himself he was going to trust Mokuba more, and not spy on him. He would not be like Gozaburo; he would not spy on his little brother like that. In his mind he could hear Gwen's sad voice saying, "So you're spying on him, what next a guilded cage with a mirror so he can keep himself busy."

            Seto shook his head, and pulled out his card locket. Inside was the picture of Mokuba. He stared at it for the longest time, and wondered if his little brother still trusted him. After what Noah had pulled during their trip to the virtual world, Mokuba had been less trusting of Seto. He didn't believe everything that Seto told him, and Seto was trying to build that confidence back up. As he looked at that picture he thought about how innocent they had both been, when did Mokuba change? And why had he not realized that Mokuba was growing up so fast. Maybe Gwen was right, maybe he _did_ want Mokuba in a cage…

            "No," Seto thought shutting the locket. "It's not true. I don't want Mokuba in a cage. But I don't want to see him hurt. " 

            He looked out the windows in his office and saw Mokuba walking with Price across the street. "Gwen, I don't know what you're up to. But I won't let you make me doubt myself. Mokuba will see through you soon enough, I just hope that it's in time. Because if you hurt my little brother, I will hurt you, and that's something that you don't want." 

            Mokuba frowned. Price was on him like a fly to honey, he was a shadow that wouldn't disappear. No matter what, Price was _always_ there watching him. They were sitting at a small hotdog stand, waiting for Gwen to show up. 

            "Why won't he just sit down and leave me alone," Mokuba thought annoyed. Price seemed to read his mind because he sat next to Mokuba and crossed his arms. Mokuba couldn't see his eyes due to the sunglasses the man wore, so he didn't know if he was looking at him or the woman in the skimpy top that was at the next table. 

            "You know I'm thirsty…" Mokuba said, and Price waved over a boy who was ridding a skate board. 

            "Yeah," the boy said and Price pulled out a twenty. 

            "Get this boy large lemonade, and you can keep the change." 

            "Yes Sir," the boy said overjoyed that he was getting some free money. Mokuba let out a groan. Price may have been a good bodyguard, but he stunk when it came to acting normal. 

            "Price, you shouldn't do that," Mokuba said, but Price was back to being silent again. The boy with the skateboard came back over with Mokuba's drink, and thanked Price, who just growled at him. The boy backed away quickly, and Mokuba shook his head. 

            "Of all the dumb things to do," Mokuba thought and was about to tell Price off, when he heard Gwen shout his name. 

             "Mokuba!" Price looked up, and she stopped in her tracks. Gwen was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, as well as blue running shoes and a blue visor, her hair was pulled back into a pony tail that swung behind her. "Um, hello there, who's your friend?" 

            "This is Price," Mokuba said motioning to Price who gave Gwen a stern look. But she just smiled back, and said. 

            "Nice to meet you, I'm the girl Mr. Kaiba hired to give Mokuba a tour of the boardwalk." 

            "Mr. Kaiba said nothing of this to me," Price replied robotically. Mokuba looked over at Gwen who was now tightening her smile. 

            "Well, maybe he forgot to mention it. Isn't that right Mokuba," she looked over at him and Mokuba nodded emphatically. 

            "Yeah, it must have slipped his mind." 

            Price didn't look like he was buying it, and he pulled out his cell phone. "Well let me see, I'll give him a call…" 

            "No!" Mokuba shouted and jumped on Price, making a grab for the cell phone. 

            "Wha…Mr. Kaiba, please control yourself," Price shouted, as Mokuba tried to grab hold of the cell phone. "Your brother left me strict orders about…" 

            Gwen grabbed the phone from behind, and turned it off. "Oh I'm sure he wouldn't want to be bothered about this little detail. He paid in full, and I'm certain he would be annoyed if you went and disturbed him over something so trivial." 

            "Well, yes, but…" Price said, but Gwen cut him off. 

            "Then it's settled," she pressed several buttons and then flipped the phone back to Price. "I'll take Mokuba on his tour, and you can wait here. Okay?" 

            Price thought about this a moment then reluctantly nodded. Gwen gave him a kind smile and grabbed Mokuba's hand, saying, "Ready then, Prince Charming?" 

            "Yeah," Mokuba said and waved bye to Price who returned to his stone face look. Gwen and Mokuba ran down the pier away from where Price was sitting and when they were far enough away they started to laugh. 

            "That was amazing," Mokuba said to Gwen. "Where'd you come up with an idea like that? And what did you punch into the cell phone?" 

            "Oh here and there," Gwen told him. "There are groups that do give you tours around Venture, but not of the pier itself, of course you're _friend_ doesn't know this. As for the phone, well let's just say I programmed it so you need to put in a code in order to call to your brother's office." 

            Mokuba chuckled; he was glad that Gwen was so fast on her feet. She smiled at him again and put her hands on her hips. "So where do you want to go first, sky's the limit you know." 

            "Well," Mokuba said slowly. "You see I only have till three-thirty. So we have to stay nearby." 

            "I see," Gwen frowned a bit, and closed her eyes as if thinking. Suddenly her eyes flew open and she clapped her fist to her palm. "I've got it. I can take you to two places and the arcade today. Okay?"

            "Sure," Mokuba said, glad to go anywhere with his new friend. "So where to first, Gwen?" 

            She grabbed his hand again, and Mokuba felt his ears burn. The two made their way past the arcade and closer to where some loud music was being played. Gwen stopped in front of a small brown wooden building; on the outside were several very old posters with silent movie stars. 'Carson's Moving Picture Theater' read the yellow sign over the door. 

            "What's this?" Mokuba asked as Gwen led him inside. Like the outside the theater was made to look like a really old movie theater. There were several wooden benches, and people were spread out all over. The place was very dark, and there was an organ in the corner. A woman sat there, and Gwen took him down to the front, and whispered. 

            "This place is a replica of what original movie theaters use to look like. They show silent movies and the woman over there plays music to go along with the shows. I think its Charlie Chaplin today. He was a very famous actor who came from England, and was known for this character that he made up, the Little Tramp."

            "Cool, "said Mokuba and two people shushed him. He looked sheepish, and saw that the movie was starting. They watched three movies, and Mokuba laughed at all the right places. He was having a great time, and was sad when Gwen told him that they had to go. 

            "That was really neat. How did you know about that place?" Mokuba asked when they went outside. The bright light made him squint. 

            "Well, let's just say that someone I was really close to showed me it," Gwen said, she blinked her eyes hard. Mokuba saw her look away when a brother and sister walk by. 

            "Mikey, thanks for winning the doggy for me," the little girl was saying to her older brother who was beaming at her. 

            "You're welcome, Lisa," said the boy. "I knew that having you around would bring me luck." 

            "Lucky Star," Gwen said softly watching them go and Mokuba gently tugged at her arm. She looked down and saw he was staring at her with an expression of worry. 

            "Gwen, are you okay?" Mokuba asked and she nodded her head, smiling at him. 

            "Yeah, I'm fine; just remember something from a long time ago. Come on, we've got ten minutes before the other show starts, and we need to get the best seat." 

            Mokuba followed as Gwen led him further away from the old fashioned movie theater and back towards the arcade. Then they went down a set of stairs to the beach, and through the crowds of people sunbathing and swimming. Finally they stopped at an out door stage, and sat on the sand. There were a lot of people milling about, and Mokuba wasn't sure what they were about to see. He was about to ask Gwen what was going on when a man in a really silly knight costume came out. His armor and sword were all made of aluminum, plastic trash bags painted silver, and cardboard. 

            "Sirs and Ladies," said the man in a ridiculous Scottish accent, "Please take your seats, and be prepared to be amazed as the Fable Players Present, "Romeo and Juliet" in fifteen minutes." 

            Several people cheered, and Mokuba glanced over to Gwen who said, "Just watch. These guys are really good." 

            Just then three other men came on stage; each was dressed in some weird looking costume made up of scraps of clothing, and one with a goatee, had on a bright pink wig and a ugly plaid skirt. They all took their places on stage, and the man in the armor set the scene. 

            "We begin our tale in Verona, the swankest place in all of Italy," he said and several people laughed. Then the play started. Mokuba wasn't totally sure what was going on, but he knew it was funny. The actors used a lot of slap stick to tell their story, and the best part was the balcony scene where the two leads kept joking about how bad the other was as a kisser, and other goofy stuff happened. Including Romeo shouting to Juliet to lower her hair, and Juliet replying, "Dude, do I look like Repunzal?"

            "No, but you'd never make it as a drag queen either," said Romeo, and the audience roared with laughter. By the time the show was over Mokuba was clapping just as hard as the others, and had tears in his eyes from laughing so much. The men took their bows and Gwen and Mokuba got up to leave. She glanced at her watch. 

            "Humm, we've got some time to kill. Want to go to the arcade?" 

            "Sure," Mokuba said, he wanted to try some of the other games there. As they walked Gwen asked Mokuba how he liked Venture, and what he'd seen so far. 

            "Not much, Seto's been very busy," Mokuba explained. "But we did go check out the museum. They have a really neat wing with all sorts of toys there… " 

            "Really," Gwen said softly. "Well that is interesting. I'm glad you liked it there. My family donated money to make that wing. We had it filled with all sorts of toys from all over the world."

            "Yeah it was really cool," Mokuba said as they walked into the arcade. Gwen smiled at him; this was too perfect for her. She'd get more info out of Mokuba then she ever could out of any other mean on Seto Kaiba, especially his weakness.

            "Hey, want to duel?" she asked suddenly. 

            "Huh," Mokuba said, "I thought you wanted to play some video games…" 

            "Well, it would be fun, but I want to see if it's true," Gwen said going over to the counter and pulled out money from her pocket.

            "If what's true?" Mokuba asked, he didn't know what she was talking about and she turned, grinning. 

            "If it's true that all Kaibas are good at playing games," She pointed to two structure decks in the case and Steve pulled them out. 

            "That will be thirty," Steve said and then saw Mokuba. "Hey little dude, what's up? You know our local champ here?"  
  


            "Yeah, we met yesterday," Mokuba said smiling. Steve turned to Gwen and took her money. 

            "Don't tell me you're going to duel him Reggie," Steve laughed as Mokuba mouthed 'Reggie' to Gwen who just smiled. 

            "Yup, that I am, and it should be a lot of fun." She took the packs, thanking Steve, and turned to Mokuba. "Okay, pick one." 

            Mokuba picked the deck with the Summon Skull on it, and Gwen took the one with the Mask of Restrict on the cover. Gwen led Mokuba over to the duel table and deposited some money. "Hey, why did Steve call you Reggie?"  

            "If you beat me, I'll tell you. I've set it for fifteen minutes," She announced to him. "That way we'll have about eleven or twelve minutes to get back to Price. We'll play by Industrial Illusion Rules, okay?" 

            "Okay," Mokuba said and Gwen flipped a coin. Mokuba went first and drew Judgeman (2200), and set him, then set a trap. "You're turn." 

            Gwen summoned Gemini Elf (1900/900), and equipped it with a Malevolent Nuzzler bringing the Elf up to 2600, then set another two cards face down, and ended her turn. Mokuba set a Four-star Lady Bug of Doom, and then ended his turn. He figured that Gwen would attack, but she didn't. Instead she just drew a card, and set one face down. Mokuba went again, wondering what she had in mind. 

            "Huh, Mystic Elf (300/2000), Ryu-Kishin Powered (1600/1200), and Wingwever (2750/2000), humm," he thought looking at his hand, and then noticed a very good magic card. "Well I can use this and power up my Judgeman, but I wish I had a crush card." 

            He set his Ryu-Kishin Powered and placed another magic card face down. Gwen smiled sweetly, as she drew another card, set it face down, set two more cards and then played gravity bind. Mokuba felt his jaw drop. Now he couldn't attack with anything higher then a level three card. But neither could she and he drew the Flame Manipulator then set him out in attack mode. 

            "And I'll power him up with my two equipment cards, and I'll play a trap card that lowers your Elf's attack. Now Flame Manipulator, destroy her Elf, Raging Fire Blast!" 

            "Mirror Wall," Gwen said activating her trap blocking his attack, sending his score down. "My turn then, okay, Ookazi first, then I'll play my Hayabusa Knight (1000/700), and equip the Ax of Despair to him. Bringing him up to 2000 attack points and that's not all. I'm flipping up my other face down card, Fissure, which allows me to destroy your face down card. And then I'm going to use this other card to take a thousand points from you're Judgeman, and raise my Knights attack to 3000, and making your Judge a mere 1200 attack points. But first I'll use my Obliteration of the Dead to destroy your Manipulator." 

            Mokuba watched as his monster was engulfed by a giant hole on the field and then Gwen smiled at him. "And now, I'll have my knight attack your Judgeman reducing your score not once, but twice!" 

            Mokuba watched as the Hayabusa Knight attacked his Judgeman, sending his life points plummeting, but then braced as the knight attacked him directly and destroyed his remaining life points all together. Mokuba stood there stunned. He lost to her, and she wasn't even using her own deck. If this was how she played with unknown cards, he thought, and then she must be a killer when it came to fighting with her own deck. Mokuba suddenly felt very sorry for anyone who was dumb enough to challenge Gwen. 

            "Five minutes remaining," Gwen laughed. "Want to play again?" 

            "Um, no thanks," Mokuba told her and Gwen suggested that they get something to drink. 

            "Dueling gets me thirsty, always has," she handed Mokuba some water, then sat down next to him at the small table. "So did I do well?" 

            "Yeah, that was pretty neat," Mokuba said, "But not as good as my big Brother. He's the best when it comes to Duel Monsters. There have only been two people who have ever gotten the better of him."

            "Well one would be Yugi Mutou," Gwen stated knowingly, "but who's the other?" 

            "Pegasus Crawford," Mokuba said bluntly, and frowned. "But he cheated when he played Seto, I know that if they ever dueled again, Seto would totally beat him." 

            "Really, you have that much faith in your brother's skills," Gwen said slowly, "and what do you owe your brother's great ability too, hummm?" 

            Mokuba thought a minute then said plainly, "Other then his skills, he's learning to put his heart in his cards…" 

            Gwen laughed, "Heart in his cards, and how do you do that? Pour some of your blood and sweat over them?"  

            Mokuba shook his head, "No, you just have to believe in them. And Seto believes in his skills and in his best card. The Blue Eyes White Dragon." 

            "Really, now, and why's that?" 

            "Can't tell you that," Mokuba said sweetly. "It's between me and my brother." 

            "I see, you two are really close then huh," Gwen said resting her chin in her hands, and her elbows on the table. 

            "Yeah, we are. Seto's the most important person in my life, and he say's that I'm the most important thing to him. I think our cook once said that I was his treasure," Mokuba said, then paused. He remembered that right at that moment Seto was probably sitting all alone in his office. Working over a computer, and not having any fun. And here he was, lying to his big brother, and hanging out with Gwen when he wasn't supposed to. It made his stomach all queasy and he pushed away his drink. "Um, do you think it would be okay if we went home now?" 

            "Sure thing," Gwen said and they left the arcade. Mokuba dashed ahead of Gwen, and was first to meet with Price who was still sitting in the same chair, in the same position. When Gwen came over she looked at the bodyguard and said while poking him, "Is he dead?" 

            "I'll thank you for not poking me," Price said and Gwen jumped back. 

            "Sorry," she blurted out. Mokuba laughed, he knew that Price was probably sleeping, but he was always alert to what was going on around him. "Can I see his cell phone, I so need to get one, and his looks so cool." 

            "Don't worry about it," Mokuba told her and Gwen nodded. She grabbed Price's phone off the table as if to examine it again, punched in some numbers, and handed it back to Price. 

            "You're an extra three minutes early, Mr. Kaiba will be pleased to hear this, younger Mr. Kaiba," Price said in his robotic manner. Mokuba laughed, it was weird hearing Price talk like that, and, unfortunately Price didn't get the joke. Rather he asked Gwen, "Will there be anymore tours then?" 

            "Yeah, actually we didn't get to see much today," Gwen told Price in her sweetest voice, "I was hoping Mokuba could come back tomorrow and we could see some more then?" 

            "Of course," Price replied. "If Mr. Kaiba paid for this tour, then Mokuba will be back tomorrow." 

            "Yes," thought Mokuba. Price was too perfect for this, now all he needed to do was to get Seto to let him go again the next day. Gwen stood there smiling politely and waved good-bye as Mokuba left with Price, only after he was gone did she drop the sweet act and pull out her cell phone. 

            "Donovan, yeah it's me. Listen; cancel my appointments for the next couple of days. Tell them a personal matter came up, and that I'll be very busy." She hung up before he could protest and thought. "This is going along swimmingly. Soon Seto I'll have Mokuba wrapped around my little finger, and the Dragon will be mine." 

            "Again?!" Seto exclaimed as Mokuba asked that night after the movie. "You want to go to the boardwalk again? What for?" 

            "Please, Seto," Mokuba begged. "There were too many kids there today so I only got to play one racing game." 

            "And what makes you think there won't be as many there tomorrow as there was there today?" Seto asked raising an eyebrow. Something was funny about this, and he didn't like it. 

            "Please Seto," Mokuba pleaded. Seto sighed; he knew that Mokuba was up to something. He just didn't know what, and he didn't want his little brother thinking he knew. "I'll be extra good if you let me go." 

            "Whatever," Seto said. "Just try to not get too hooked on those games. I don't want you wasting all your time there." 

            "Right, thanks Seto, you're the best," Mokuba said hugging his brother as they got out of the car and went up to the penthouse. While Mokuba went to bed Seto sat down and read a novel that he had to finish for his literature teacher; his junior year of high-school would be starting in April, and while he was one of the top ranked students in his year, he still had several challenges to overcome. Among them was his History and Literature teacher, Mr. Kazimera, who seemed intent on digging into Seto's personal life. He'd given the students a list of books to read over the summer and write about how they felt about the story. This one was called "Blood Brothers" and told the story of two brothers: one older, one younger who are trying to find a new life in the nineteen twenties. It was an okay read, but Seto didn't understand the point of it. So far all he could tell was that the writer was trying to explain about what drove the two boys to go their separate ways in their lives, other then that Seto found it a very dull book. The characters were boring, and he found the older one to be a bit of a bully to the younger one, who was a jerk. He also had a bad feeling about the woman that had just started to date the younger brother. The whole thing seemed stupid to him. What was Kazimera getting at? 

            Before he'd left school Kazimera had stopped Seto on the way out, and had told him to pay special attention to the characters in this particular novel. Seto had rolled his eyes behind Kazimera's back; even so the teacher kept smiling and insisted that by the end of the upcoming school year he'd have a very different out look on life. Seto stared at the blank sheet of notebook paper, and slammed the novel shut. He didn't have time for teachers who talked in riddles. People like Kazimera were a pain to him; they thought that they could understand him. It used to make him laugh; now it just bothered him. What was really starting to egg him was that ever since Battle City ended he kept remembering things that he promised when he was younger. Things that he knew were impossible, and yet he was determined to do them. Some where in his mind he heard Anzu Mazaki telling him that he had no heart, that spending time with his machines had turned him cold. Back then he believed he really did have everything he need. But now he was starting to doubt it. 

            When they were still in the orphanage Seto was always playing with Mokuba because a lot of the other kids were older then him. The two were bonded to one another, and now that bond was weakening. Mokuba didn't trust him as much as he used to. And he blamed Noa for that one; Seto wanted nothing to do with the past. If he dwelled in it there was no way he would be able to live now. Mokuba was his world, for him he would pay the ultimate price if he had to. He'd threatened to jump during Duelist Kingdom, Yugi called off his monster, but somewhere in the back of his mind Seto's younger self was yelling at him for pulling such a stupid stunt. 

            "How will this help Mokuba?" Young Seto was screaming. "He need's you Seto Kaiba. He needs you to protect him." 

            But did Mokuba need him now? He knew that his little brother would always need him around, but at what point would he have to let him go? And then would he be alone? Was Mazaki right in saying that Yugi had a heart because he had so many friends? And if that was the reason he won against Pegasus and later against both himself and Malik then was he hurting Mokuba by keeping him just to himself? These questions had been haunting him for the longest time, and he still had no answers.    

            Eventually Seto did go to bed, but he couldn't sleep. Something was nagging at his gut, and he got up only to spend the rest of the night playing a game of solitaire in hopes of getting some sleep. The following day was just as bad as the night. Nothing was going right; he woke up late, and found out that several new cards from the latest set of Magic and Wizards from Industrial Illusions were not registering in the duel disk system. He rubbed his temples; this whole trip was turning out to be a disaster. But he refused to give up, and by the afternoon things had seemed to calm down. That is, everything was calm, until about two o'clock. 

 Once again Mokuba went out with Price, he asked Seto for an hour more, and Seto had told him to come back by four. Then, as with the day before, Mokuba asked Seto if he could go again to the boardwalk the next day, and once more Seto reluctantly agreed. This went on for several days; and by the fourth day Seto was becoming suspicious of the whole thing. By the fifth day, he was beginning to doubt Mokuba's stories about not being able to play all the games in the arcade. On the sixth day he knew something was up because Mokuba came in with sand in his shoes. When asked about it, Mokuba got very defensive saying that he went down to the beach to find some shells. On the seventh day Seto had had enough; after Mokuba came back he told him to go back to the penthouse and wait for him there. Then he called in Price and began to question him about what was happening when he took Mokuba down to the boardwalk. 

            "Well sir," Price explained in his robotic way, something that exasperated Seto very much. "You see young Mr. Kaiba will wait for about ten minutes, and will order lemonade. Then we will sit there and watch people." 

            "Your starting to aggravate me, Price, get to the point already," Seto told him and Price quickly went on. 

            "Sir, after about ten minutes, give or take, a young woman comes over and takes Mokuba on a tour of the board walk. I wait for him at the designated spot, and they always come back before the appointed time. And that is all I know, Mr. Kaiba. Your brother does mention some of the places that he's been, among them the arcade, several diners on the walk, and some other buildings housing entertainment venues." 

            "Wait, you said something about a girl, what did she look like?" Seto asked harshly. 

            "I'm not sure sir, I didn't really notice her all that much," Price told him and Seto gritted his teeth. How could a bodyguard be so stupid? He was paid to notice everything, and he noticed nothing at all about a person that kept taking Mokuba away from him? What was this moron doing, checking out women when he should be watching his brother? Seto was more then pissed off. There was only one reasonable explanation to the situation. It had to be Gwen; there was no one else that Mokuba would willingly go with. 

            "You mean to tell me you let my brother wander off with a total stranger, and you don't even remember what she looks like?! Do you even know where she takes him to?"  
 

            "Sir she said she's a tour guide for the boardwalk, which you paid for her to show young Mr. Kaiba around." Price explained and Seto felt his blood pressure rise. He clenched his teeth, and felt his face twitch. He was furious! If it was Gwen then Mokuba had been lying to him, but he didn't want to doubt his little brother. Mokuba wouldn't do this when Seto had asked him, practically begged him, to not see her again. 

            "I did no such thing, you moron." Seto barked at Price who, for the first time, showed that he was at least somewhat edgy. The bodyguard moved back in his chair and sat up. Seto noticed that he was sweating quite a bit, but he was far too angry at the moment to take any pleasure in it. Price had let him down, and was going to face consequences for screwing up so badly. "You think I would pay for someone to take Mokuba on a tour of a boardwalk?! There's never been such a thing; it's imbecilic to even think that there was. And why didn't you call me when this woman first approached you? Well, I'm waiting Price, and it better be good." 

            "Well, Mr. Kaiba," Seto saw Price pull out a handkerchief and dab his brow. "You see when I tried to the woman took the phone from me, and what she said sounded so convincing that I just went along with it. Sir, if you no longer want me to take Mokuba to the boardwalk, I won't." 

            "Oh, you're right about not taking Mokuba to the boardwalk, Price." Seto said sneering at him, "In fact you won't be taking my brother anywhere at all. You're fired! Effective immediately! And don't bother picking up your stuff. I want you out of my office and out of my sight before I throw you out myself."

            "Mr. Kaiba, you can't do this…" Price was saying when Seto pressed a button on his phone. 

            "Amy, tell the security guards to come up here, I have a trespasser in my office that I want removed." 

            Price felt sick, but wasn't about to argue with Kaiba. He turned and left the office in a hurry, and Seto pulled his finger off the ring button. All that did was change the tone of the ring on the phone. He got up and headed out of the office. Price was long gone, and Amy was just coming back into the office. 

            "Mr. Kaiba, is something wrong," she asked quickly, but went quiet when she saw the look in his eye. 

            "Amy, do me a favor, I need you to find out how much tickets cost in San Francisco," Seto told her. "Oh and what's the going rate for skyboxes?" 

            "Y-yes sir," Amy said and quickly got on the phone as Seto headed for the door. 

            "Oh and one other thing," he said before he left, "When you find out call me on my cell phone." 

            "Of course Mr. Kaiba," Amy replied and Seto headed out towards the elevators. When he got outside his driver was already waiting. He was holding an envelope in his hand, and Seto noticed that he seemed puzzled by it. 

            "Smith, what's the problem?" Seto asked and the elderly gentleman showed him the white envelope. 

            "Oh, Good-evening Mr. Kaiba," Smith said and opened the door for him. Seto climbed in and Smith got into the driver side of the car. 

            "I asked you if there was something bothering you, Smith," Kaiba said as they headed down the freeway. "I would like some sort of answer." 

            "Well sir," Smith replied handing him the envelope and Seto took it. "I was given this by a gentleman with brown hair. He said to give it to you straight away. I wasn't sure about it, so I was debating about giving it to you, you know, incase it was anything dangerous." 

            Seto nodded and ripped open the white envelope. Inside what he saw made his stomach twist up in knots. It was pictures of Mokuba, and someone, obviously having a fun time together. Seto didn't need to see the face to know who it was. There were several different shots of his brother. If they could get this close to him…Seto shivered. They could just as easily kidnap him, or worse. He felt sick. This was worse then with Pegasus. At least then Mokuba realized he was in trouble, with Gwen he had no idea how dangerous she was. She was playing with him, and he didn't know a thing about it. Seto knew he needed to get Mokuba away from her as fast as he could. The trip to San Francisco would be a start. Maybe if he had some luck there would be an office opening down there where he could move Kaiba Corporation down to the bay area. At least there Mokuba would be away from Venture, and would be safe from Gwen. Then he'd get back at her. There was no way he was going to let her get away with this. For insulting his family, he'd make sure that she'd never either them again, one way or another, she would go down. 

            "Scotts you're going to wish you had never tried to mess with me," Seto thought as the car pulled up to the main door of the apartment building. He got out of the car and headed into the lobby, that's when his cell phone went off. 

            "Kaiba. Amy, you got the tickets," Seto asked her. When she said that she had he smiled, "Perfect. They'll be waiting at the box office, alright, good job. Yes, Good night to you too." 

            He turned off the phone. Amy, while helpful, was just as bothersome as Anzu, and Seto wanted no reminder of Yugi's little cheerleading girlfriend, if she was even that. He took the elevator up to the top floor, and got off. Inside the penthouse he found Mokuba reading a comic, and Seto put on a smile. 

            "So, is it a good story?" Mokuba looked up and gave Seto a big smile. 

            "Yeah, these American comics are pretty cool," he showed Seto the comic; it was of Insect-man, a boy who had the abilities of several insects after being bitten by a radioactive super bug. Seto looked it over and tossed it back to his brother. "So, um, Seto…" 

            "Yeah," Seto said grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. 

            "Can I go to the boardwalk tomorrow? Please?" Mokuba asked he smiled brightly at Seto who closed his eyes as if to think. 

            "Hummm, No." 

            "Wha…" Mokuba's jaw fell. For a second he thought he didn't hear right. "What do you mean, no." 

            "Just that, you're not going to the boardwalk tomorrow," Seto told him and watched as Mokuba's face twisted from shock to scared. 

            "Why not, Seto," Mokuba asked. His first thought was that Seto had found out about him seeing Gwen. He knew his big brother would never hurt him, but he hated the idea of disappointing Seto. He wished now that he hadn't promised to see Gwen. But she was always coming up with new ways to have fun, and he liked her. So Mokuba stood there holding his breath. 

            "Because," Seto said drawing the moment out. He saw the fear in Mokuba's eyes, and knew he'd guessed right that Mokuba was covering up something. But even though he had the pictures, he couldn't prove that it was Gwen with him. That was what was so frustrating. 

            "What?" Mokuba shouted, and cringed. "Please Seto, tell me why?" 

            Seto took a slug from the bottled water and said calmly, "Because you and I are going to go to a baseball game tomorrow." 

            Mokuba's mouth fell, "We…We are?" 

            "Didn't you tell me you wanted to see one when we got over here?" Seto said with a smile. He was still upset at his brother, but with no proof he decided to play it safe and not let on that he knew something was going on. Mokuba hurried over and hugged Seto tightly; he was so relieved that he wasn't in trouble. "I'll take that as a yes then." 

            That night Mokuba went to bed happy, he was going to get to see a game with his brother. He couldn't wait. But just as he drifted off to sleep he remembered something that Gwen said that afternoon to him and it made him sit up. "Mokuba, these past few days have been the best I've had in a long time. I'd feel so sad if I didn't get to see you. You're a great friend. I don't know what I'd do without you." 


	6. Chapter 6:Tug of War

Blue Destiny 

            Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly Shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh.  Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

            Author's note: So folks what do you think now? I'm waiting to see if anyone thinks that Gwen's a good villain. ^_^

            Revisions: I did some math, and came to a discovery. So I had to change the ages and fix some spelling. Sorry about that. 0_o

            I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Duke Devilin =Ryuji Otogi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford. 

Chapter 6: Tug of War

            Mokuba got up extra early the next morning. He pulled a piece of paper from his jeans pocket and unfolded it. A phone number was written inside, and Mokuba glanced it over trying to memorize the number. He crept from his room and checked in on his big brother; Seto was fast asleep, much to Mokuba's relief. Careful not to make to much noise he slipped down the stairs to the living room, and picked up the phone. If he was caught now he'd be in big trouble. Mokuba looked at the number one more time and then dialed it. 

            "Come on, pick up," he muttered as the phone rang on the other end. He hoped that someone would pick up soon, Seto would be waking up and Mokuba had no idea how to explain making a phone call this early in the morning to his brother. 

            "Just calling for a pizza," Mokuba could joke, but Seto wouldn't buy that and the jig would be up. Seto would find out about Gwen, and more importantly he'd have to stare into his brother's disappointed and hurt face. Everyone thought that Seto didn't get hurt by things people said to him, Mokuba knew better. His brother was good at covering it up, but every time someone said something bad about him when they didn't even know him, it hurt Seto in some way. That was why he acted so arrogant, he wasn't about to let anyone know that they did managed to wound him. 

            Mokuba sighed heavily, no one was picking up. Just when he was about to hang up a groggy voice came on. 

            "Hello?" 

            "Gwen is that you?" Mokuba asked. 

            "Yeah, this is Gwen," she replied and seemed dazed. "Who's this?"

            "It's Mokuba," he replied sounding a bit hurt. Was it that early that she couldn't recognize his voice? Maybe she was still half asleep, that had to be it.

            "Mokuba? Wha…why are you calling at," he heard her shuffle something around and then she yelped. "Five-thirty in the morning?! Kid, what are you doing calling me this early? Didn't you ever hear of sleeping in late on Friday?"

            "No, listen Gwen, I needed to talk to you," Mokuba explained rather quickly, and kept glancing behind him, watching the stairs to make sure Seto wasn't coming down yet. 

            "What's so urgent that you need to talk to me this early?" Gwen asked in a worried voice. "Wait did something happen to you?" 

            "No I'm fine," Mokuba reassured her. "But the thing is that I can't see you today. I'm sorry." 

            "Why not?" Gwen asked, she sounded upset, and a bit miffed. "I thought we were going to check out the rides at Rio today." 

            "I know, but, something came up." 

            "And that would be…." She left her sentence hanging and Mokuba gulped. He sucked in some air and said rather quickly. 

            "My brother got tickets to see a baseball game in San Francisco, and we're going to be gone all day." 

            "Is that all?" Gwen asked calmly. Mokuba was surprised she didn't sound upset at all by this. 

            "Yes." 

            "Ha, then there's no problem," Gwen replied, and Mokuba could see her smiling. "Listen, go there and have fun, eat a few hot dogs, check out the stadium. Just enjoy your time there." 

            "Okay I will," Mokuba said and he said good bye to his friend, and hung up. Now he felt better. Gwen wasn't mad at him and soon he'd be on his way to see a baseball game with Seto. It was going to be a very exciting day. 

            At her home Gwen sat up in bed and hit her speed dial then clicked speaker phone. Downstairs Donovan heard his phone beep several times and answered. 

            "Donovan." 

            "Donovan, I need you to find out if there are any tickets left for the Giants game this afternoon," Gwen told him with a sly smile on her lips. "We're going to see a baseball game." 

            From breakfast on Mokuba talked non-stop about what they were going to do when they got down to San Francisco.  

            "And we'll check out the cable cars, and go looking at all the cool boats at the harbors. Oh and we have to go see that new Magic and Wizards museum that opened up. And the bridge too, that huge Golden Gate bridge, can we check that out Seto?" 

            "So basically you want to go to all the tourist traps," Kaiba said as he took a sip of his morning coffee. He frowned; the chefs in the kitchen didn't have the foggiest how to make a good cup of coffee at all. 

            "No, I just want to see all those cool sights that they show in the movies," Mokuba told him. Seto smiled, he was glad his little brother was so excited. And, he was also glad that it took his mind off the boardwalk. Seto knew one thing, he wasn't about to let anything distract him today. He even told Amy to tell anyone that called that he was too busy to talk, and that they would have to wait until Monday to talk to him. 

            "So," Seto said as Mokuba finished his breakfast, "are you ready to go?" 

            "Yeah!" Mokuba exclaimed and jumped out of his chair. "Hey race you to the car." 

            Seto thought about this for a moment, "You're on." 

            Mokuba knew his brother was faster, that was why Seto gave him a head start. By the time they reached the bottom, Seto was already ahead of him, and leaning against the closed door. Seto had urged Mokuba on by teasingly taunting him, 'Hurry up slow poke. I thought I saw a snail rush past you.' Mokuba huffed a bit, and laughed seeing his brother look slightly winded as well. "We'll I might be slow, but at least I don't look like I'm wearing blush." 

            "Well that does it for morning exercise," commented Smith as he let both young men into the car. "I hope you two enjoy the game. Should be exciting. Been a life long Giant's fan myself, you know." 

            "Who's playing?" Mokuba asked Smith, while Seto closed his eyes and rested. He knew that this was going to be a tiring day, but it was going to be well worth it. 

            "The San Francisco Giants verses the Chicago Cubs," Smith said smiling. "I remember when I was a whole heck of a lot younger that the Cubs made it to the play-offs in sixty-six. Back then it was a heck of a lot cheaper to go see the game. Not that it matters to you Mr. Kaiba. I'll bet that you could buy the team in one swoop." 

            "And the stadium," Mokuba added laughing. Seto let out a sniff, him buy a baseball team? What rubbish, but if it could rake in some money to fund his park then maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Mokuba was busy talking to Smith as they drove the long way to the stadium. So Seto just kept his eyes on the passing scenery. Now and again he mentally admired the architecture of the surrounding houses. They got onto the freeway, and still Smith was telling Mokuba all about his favorite team. Who the players were, their statistics, the RBI's of the best players, he even told him about how the new stadium was built. Seto found it interesting in a 'Something to think about later' way. Mostly though he was board, he wished he had taken his lap top to do some work, but he'd promised himself that he would not think of work at all that day. So he stayed silent while his brother and his driver went on with their strange conversation. It wasn't until they went over the Golden Gate Bridge that Seto perked up. He really had always been impressed with this particular structure and marveled at how long and strong this bridge was. 

              "Check it out Seto," Mokuba said pointed out the Pacific Ocean, and then the city on the other side. "We're almost there! This is so cool, thank you Seto." 

            Seto gave his little bother a soft smile, and tussled his hair. He really gave Mokuba a look over, and realized that he looked older, and it made Seto a bit sad. He could remember when Mokuba was born, he'd only been five at the time, and here was this small thing with a lot of black hair on its small head. His fingers had been so small that Seto wondered how it was that such a tiny thing could make it in the world. 

            "Hey," Mokuba's voice broke into Seto's thoughts, and Mokuba grabbed him by the arm pulling Seto to his side of the car. "Look at that." 

            Mokuba had pointed out a rather large glass building that looked very impressive from the freeway. Seto tapped Smith on the shoulder, "Pull off, I want to see that place up close." 

            Smith nodded, and got into the exit ramp. He drove down several blocks and past a number of high-rise office buildings. When they came up to the large glass building Kaiba and Mokuba were surprised to see that it was empty. The parking lot was deserted, and Seto had Smith pull up to the front of large office building and what he saw out front made him pause. There were two very large Blue-Eyes White Dragons seated before the entrance. Mokuba hurried over to the doors and looked for any notice of who owned the building. He shook his head when his brother came over. 

            "No name, no nothing." Seto said, his eyes taking in the whole property. "It's like this place was built then abandon, still in perfect condition." 

            A thought flashed into his mind, this was the ideal sight for an American headquarters for Kaiba Corp. Not only was it large enough to hold a large amount of workers, but it also already had his symbol right out front. And the best part was it was far outside of Venture City and away from Gwen Scotts. 

            "It's perfect," Seto said out loud, and Mokuba glanced up at him. 

            "What's perfect, big bro?" 

            "This place," Kaiba explained. "It's the perfect place for an American headquarters for Kaiba Corp." 

            Mokuba looked over the building; he had to agree with his brother. It was a great place, and had lots of space. As Vice president of Kaiba Corp. Mokuba knew that one of the most important aspects of business was how you presented yourself to others, and this building made for an excellent image of Kaiba Corp. He smiled at Seto, who seemed off in his own dream world, and Mokuba took his hand to wake him up. Seto looked down and asked, "Well?" 

            "I think it's perfect too," Mokuba said and Seto nodded at him in agreement. 

            "Ahem," Smith coughed and the two boys turned around. Seto had forgotten that he was there, and looked a bit sheepish. He liked Smith, he was a good worker, and was at least someone he could trust with Mokuba. "I hate to break up this moment, boys, but don't you have a game to get to?"  
  


            "Oh yeah," Mokuba grinned awkwardly at Smith who smiled back. "That's right, I forgot. Ready to go yet Seto? Ah Seto? Big Brother?" 

            Kaiba was watching the dragon statues in the front, he let go of Mokuba's hand and walked over to the first dragon. He looked up at it, and a memory flashed in his mind. Or was it simply a dream? He'd been having these more often lately, ever since Malik and Ishizu Ishtar used their Millennium items on him. He found himself in a dark room; it felt warm, and smelled like sand. He was kneeling before a bed made of wood and leather straps, and a young woman with blonde hair was lying on the bed looking very sick. In his hand he held the very rod that Malik Ishtar had used during Battle City. Seto knew that there were at least three people standing behind him. One was a tall man with a beard, and he swore that he had the same eye that Pegasus had. Next to him was a woman dressed in robes, she had a hawk crown on her head, and Seto caught her reflection in the rod's top. Her face reminded him of Ishizu Ishtar, but this woman was older. Beside the woman was a short man, with an ugly face, who kept looking between the tall man's face and that of the woman. Obviously there was a tension between them, Seto decided, but he couldn't tell what they were thinking. He stared at the young woman before him, she seemed very familiar to him, but he didn't know where he'd seen her face. He frowned; what was he doing here? Why now all of a sudden. It was then that he heard a noise in the corner of the room, and turned his head. There was someone in the shadows. Someone small who didn't want the other's to know that they were there. Although Seto couldn't tell if the person was sitting or standing, he did know that the person was crying. For some reason he wanted to see what this crying person looked like, but as he turned to look the person's head lifted and he only got a fast glance of greenish eyes, then he saw Mokuba. His brother's worried face loomed into his, and Seto snapped out of his dream. 

            "Seto, Seto," Mokuba was saying and shook Kaiba gently. "Seto are you okay?" 

            "Huh," Seto shook the dream from his mind and gave a reassuring grin to Mokuba, who smiled back relieved. Seto turned his head and called over to Smith, "Smith." 

            "Yes sir?" Smith replied, he was watching his watch making sure of the time for them. 

            "You have a camera in the car?" 

            "I think so," Smith said puzzled by the request. 

            "Get it, would you." Seto told him and jumped up on the statue's base; he grabbed Mokuba by the hand and pulled him up. 

            "Seto, what are you doing?" 

            "You always said you wanted us to go riding on a Blue-Eyes Dragon," Seto said lifting Mokuba up and giving him a boost onto the large dragon's wing. "Well it might not be a real Blue-eyes, but it's the next closest thing." 

            Mokuba let out a laugh, as Smith came back holding a small camera. "Okay now both of you, say 'Cheese'." 

            "Cheese," shouted Mokuba, and Seto leaned back against the wing, looking as casual as he could, with a smirk on his face. As Smith flashed the picture Seto knew that he was going to have it blown up and put in the mansion as a portrait of the two of them.

            When they got to the game Seto hurried over to the box office, and secured three tickets. Mokuba rushed over asking, "Who's the third ticket for?" 

            "Smith," was all Seto said headed over to the car. He walked over to where his driver was waiting, and handed him the extra ticket. "Here, when you're done parking, come in and join us." 

            "Sir," said Smith smiling brightly. "I haven't gone to a game since I was a teenager. Thank you very much!" 

            Inside Mokuba and Seto found their seats, and Smith soon joined them. Seto looked around at the many people that had come to see the game. There were fans that simple wore hats designating their favorite team, other's went all the way out with replica uniforms. Seto snorted thinking, "These baseball fans really get into their teams, don't they." 

            "Hey, what's going on down there?" Mokuba asked Smith, and he pointed out a group of boys about his age all shouting at a player in the field. 

            "Oh, that," Smith mused happily. "See, players sign the balls that kids bring here. It's a big deal to get a famous player to sign your baseball, or bat in some cases. They can be worth a lot of money, but if it's your favorite player then it's extra special. You try and see how many autographs you can get. See." 

            "Yeah, it sounds like fun," Mokuba said, then grimace, "Darn, I don't have a baseball." 

            Seto looked around at the venders, and spotted one selling some baseballs. He stood up and told Mokuba to wait, then hurried over to the vender. "I'll take one." 

            "Eight ninety-five, Mac," said the vender. Seto knitted his brow; Eight ninety -five! That was enough to buy a ticket to a movie. For one baseball, it seemed rather outrageous. But he pulled out his wallet and shelled out the money, and the man gave him the baseball. 

            "Eight ninety-five for a piece of cloth and sawdust," Seto thought heading back to his seat, but if it made Mokuba happy then it was worth it. Kaiba plopped the ball into Mokuba's hands when he returned, and Smith got up with Seto's little brother. 

            "Okay, come on, and I'll show you how it's done. Were going to get the best player to sign you're ball first okay." 

            "Great," Mokuba cried and the two walked down towards the crowd of kids. Seto relaxed in his seat, No work, no worries, no Yugi, and no Gwen Scotts. Everything was exactly as it should be. He closed his eyes, intending to rest a bit longer when he heard mumbles of dissatisfaction coming his way. Peeking open he saw Mokuba coming back with Smith, who looked rather annoyed, but Mokuba was saying something to the driver.

            "It's okay; I didn't want his dumb signature anyway." 

            "Something wrong?" Seto inquired as they both sat back down. Mokuba looked over at Smith who crossed his legs and leaned against the arm rest and grumbled. 

            "Can't believe he wouldn't sign it, of all the lame brained excuses…doesn't have time for silly things like signing a baseball. Not like we asked when they were in the middle of changing teams, you know." 

            Seto looked at Mokuba and whispered to him, "Okay what happened?" 

            "This player, Frank Murphy, he's an out fielder for the Giants, and suppose to be really good at hitting, he didn't want to sign the baseball," Mokuba explained. "He wasn't signing anyone's and was really mean about it too, and when Smith asked him what his problem was, he told Smith, 'Go take a damn flying leap old man, ain't ya a bit to old to be bugging players about autographs. I've got no time to waste with you, or your grandson over there, so take a hike." 

            "Really," Seto said. "He said this, did he? Mokuba give me that baseball, would you." 

            "Here," Mokuba said handing the ball over to Seto. Kaiba got up and headed down to where the boys were still grouped. Smith watched him with a puzzled look, and asked Mokuba. 

            "What's he doing?" 

            "Getting an autograph," Mokuba said in a knowing tone. His big brother couldn't stand people that acted like jerks to kids; he'd seen him do this before at other places. When Seto put his mind to get something, there was no way to stop him. There was a glint that came into his eyes, and Mokuba knew when he saw this that his brother meant business. Seto stopped behind the group, and scowled as he heard what the kids were saying. 

            "Can you believe him," one girl said to an older boy. "Like he doesn't care." 

            "Yeah, but he's such a good hitter," said another boy. 

            "He didn't have to act like such a jerk," said a third boy. Seto noticed that this boy, in particular, looked rather sad. He sniffed, and Seto noticed that the boy's eyes were welling up with tears. "I just wanted an autograph for my little brother that's all." 

            He'd heard enough, Seto pushed past the children, and one of the older one's shouted, "Hey man wait your turn."

            "You want an autograph or not?" Seto asked him looking down at the boy, his eye narrowed, and the boy backed down. "Better." 

            "Don't even bother man," said another boy shifting his cap. "That Murphy's a hard head; he won't do anything for anyone. He even said you had to pay him if you want him to sign a ball. He won't listen to anyone at all."

            "Oh, he'll listen to me," Seto said dangerously. The boy snorted and gave him a 'Yeah right,' look. To which Seto smirked, "Just watch." 

            He put his index and middle fingers to his lower lip and let out a high piercing whistle that caught the attention of several players on the field. Including Frank Murphy, who was the closest and who glowered at Seto. 

            "Murphy, I want to talk to you," Seto called out to him. When Murphy didn't come, Seto climbed over the ledge, and was going to jump onto the field, but the kids grabbed him and pulled him back. 

            "You can't do that," said the girl. "Security will throw you out." 

            "Well then," Seto thought, "I'll just have to get this worthless piece of slime to come over here then." 

            "Hey Murphy," Kaiba shouted out. "Are you deaf or just stupid?! I said I wanted to talk to you, or are you to much of a coward to take up a challenge!" 

            That caught Murphy by surprise, and he marched over. No one called Frank Murphy a coward, especially not a skinny punk, and got away with it. Frank growled when he came up to the wall where Seto and the other kids were standing. The older man glared fiercely at Kaiba, who gave him a look that said 'You're not even worth my time, you looser.' 

            "So what do you want, punk?" asked Murphy, who was ticked as it already was. He didn't need this sort of aggravation, and he wasn't some dog that was whistled at. 

            "I want you to sign this baseball, and then I want you to sign all the other balls for these kids," Seto said and narrowed his brow. "And then I want you to come into the stands and apologize to an older gentleman." 

            "And what makes you think I'm going to do this," Frank chuckled. "What are you going to do that tough guy?" 

            Seto grabbed him by the uniform and pulled him close to his face, and said in a low voice, "Because if you don't I will make your life a miserable hell, starting by shoving this ball so far up your ass that the only way you'll ever be able to pull it out is if you used a high powered vacuum, and even then it might be lodged in to deep to pull out. That's what I'll do, Frank Murphy." 

            "Who the hell do you think you are, Punk?" Frank asked nervously, and Seto smiled viciously. 

            "My name is Seto Kaiba, and I can become you're worst nightmare. So I'm saying this only once, you either sign these baseballs, or you will be sorry." 

            Frank's face changed from one of fear, to one of recognition, and he croaked, "Wait, Seto Kaiba, aren't you the Duel Monster's world Champion?" 

            "Yes, what does that have to do with anything," Kaiba asked getting suspicious of the player. He dropped Murphy and the outfielder pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Kaiba.  

            "Here, could you please sign this for me; my son is a huge fan of yours." 

            Seto took the card and looked at it. The card was a level six Sky Dragon, a rather non impressive card as it was only at 1900 in attack and required two tributes. Rather he could use a four star Gemini Elf card and got the same effect in battle. Seto looked down at the baseball player, smiled coolly, and then tore the card in two. 

            "Nope," he threw it back at Frank who looked on in shock as the pieces of card fell to the ground. Seto leaned over the wall and looked Frank in the face, "Now how does that feel, Frank. You like being shunted aside like the worthless trash that you are? Well that's how you make these kids feel, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm a business man, and I'll make you a deal.

            Seto reached into his pocket and pulled out his side deck, "I happen to have a duplicate of the card I just ripped up. I'll sign it for your son, if you agree to sign all these kids' baseballs, and sign anyone who asks you today for free. Then you'll apologize to a friend of mine, and get him sky box seats for the rest of the season. Agreed?" 

            Frank Murphy nodded, and the kids held out their pens and baseballs. Seto watched as he signed each and everyone writing a message for each of the kids. When he finished, Seto handed him his ball, and said; "Now this one, you just need to put your name on it." 

            Frank yanked the ball out of Seto's hand and scrawled his name on it sending dark looks towards Seto. When he finished he shoved the ball into Seto's hand, and Seto pulled out the second Sky Dragon. He scrawled his name on the back of the card, and gave it to Frank, who quickly shoved it in his pocket. As he turned to go, Seto shouted after him. "And Murphy, I expect those passes by the end of the game, or I'm going to find you and we'll test my theory about your rear end." 

            The kids laughed as Frank Murphy marched back to finish off his warm ups. Seto turned leave when the boy with the cap stopped him. 

            "Hey man, thanks." 

            "Whatever," Seto said shrugging his shoulders, just then the girl grabbed him by the arm. She had a Magic and Wizards card in hand, Lady of Faith, and showed it to him. 

            "Please, Mr. Kaiba, can I have your autograph too," she asked sweetly. Seto blinked, but took the card and signed it for her, and then the other kids pulled out paper and cards for him to sign too. 

            "I saw you during the last World Championship, that was so cool how you pulled out the Blue Eyes on that one guy," said a boy. 

            "Yeah, and Battle Ox is also my favorite! Don't you have that in your deck?" asked another boy, and Seto nodded as he signed the boy's Minotaur card. Several minutes later Seto made his way back to his seat. It was strange, having all those kids wanting him to sign their cards. Normally no one asked him at school, or maybe it was because they avoided him, whatever the case was it wasn't usual for Seto to be treated like a celebrity. It felt nice to be shown that kind of admiration, he rather liked it. At least here he got treated with the respect that a champion like himself deserved. 

            Upon returning to his seat he flipped Mokuba the ball, "Here, enjoy." 

            "What did you say to him?" Mokuba asked, "He looked scared." 

            "Let's just say I treated him the same way he was treating everyone else and leave it at that," Kaiba replied. The game started just then, and Seto settled back in his seat. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to get to relax at all. 

            By the fifth inning Mokuba was pooped out, the Giants were leading five to two, and the Cubs were up now. Smith had been explaining the rules of the game the whole time, so it was hard for Mokuba to concentrate on the action on the field. He was hungry, and got up. Seto grabbed him by his shirt as he climbed over his brother's long legs and turned to go up the stairs. 

            "Where are you going?" 

            "To get something to eat," Mokuba said and Seto followed him. "I'm coming with you." 

            "Seto, I'm okay, I'm eleven now." Mokuba protested but his brother didn't listen and tagged right after him. At the concession stand Seto and Mokuba waited in line. It was there that Mokuba spotted white hair being blown from behind a pillar. He glanced up at his brother, then at the line, and darted out. 

            "Hey, where are you…" Seto called to him and Mokuba shouted back. 

            "Bathroom! Be right back," When he rounded the corner a hand grabbed his shoulder, and he was about to yelp when the person turned him around.  

            "Gwen, what are you doing here," Mokuba asked, Gwen put her finger to her mouth and he went quiet. 

            "I came here to see the game," she explained. "So how do you like so far?" 

            "It's okay, I got an autograph from a player," Mokuba told her and Gwen nodded. "Hey where are you sitting?" 

            She pointed up, "In the sky boxes." 

            "Huh, how were you able to get a sky box, we have to sit in the main area." Mokuba told her and Gwen chuckled in her kind way. 

            "That's easy, I own one of the boxes here," she explained and reached into her purse pulling out a pass. "Listen, if you get board sitting down in the main area, just come on up. Show the guards this pass if they don't believe you, okay. See you about the seventh inning?" 

            "Uh, sure," Mokuba said and she kissed him on the cheek. Then winking Gwen went up a flight of stairs, and Mokuba went back to see his brother. When she reached the upper decks where the boxes were, Gwen let out a laugh. 

            "He could only secure main section seating, oh how pathetic!" She knew Mokuba wouldn't be able to resist coming up to see what the skybox looked like, and when he came up there, she'd keep him busy. Soon, very soon, she'd have him wrapped around her little finger. Oddly though, as Gwen took her seat, she thought to herself how nice it would be to have his company around her. She'd grown use to Mokuba, and was beginning to wonder about herself, and how she felt about this kid.

            Mokuba, in the meantime, ran back to where Seto was waiting for him, and shoved the pass into a pocket in his jeans. Seto was holding a hotdog, with the works, and two sodas, one that he was already sipping. He handed the dog to Mokuba who asked, "Where's yours?" 

            "Not hungry," Seto explained as they headed back down to the seats. "Find the bathroom alright?" 

            "Huh?" Mokuba mumbled biting into the hot dog, "Oh yeah, just fine." 

            Seto nodded, but was wondering if Mokuba was just making it up. He knew that the washrooms were in the opposite direction of the way Mokuba ran, but he wasn't about to say anything yet. He still couldn't prove that Gwen was there, but he had a hunch that someone was watching them. Whenever he'd had the chance Seto would glance around the seats, and twice he'd seen someone dart away from their seat when he caught them looking at Mokuba and him.  This little game went on through most of the early innings. It was only recently that the person had not appeared again. Seto decided to watch the game a bit, just so that he would be able to say that he had seen some of it if anyone at the office asked him how it was. The Cubs had just scored, but were still trailing by a run, and it was the top of the seventh. 

            "Come on boys," shouted Smith to the team, "Send those Cubbies back to their gum park!" 

            "Gum park?" Mokuba asked, and Smith explained that the Cubs team played in a place called Wrigley Field, which had been owned by the company Wrigley's who made chewing gums. Mokuba thought this was funny so he joined in with Smith in shouting for the Giants to win. Unfortunately it appeared that all it did was make the Cubs score another two runs, and the crowd moaned. Finally the pitcher struck out the latest batter, and the two teams were going to change places. Mokuba reached into his pocket for his napkin to wipe his hands off, but touched the pass that Gwen had given him. 

            "Listen, if you get board sitting down in the main area, just come on up. Show the guards this pass if they don't believe you, okay. See you about the seventh inning?" she'd said to him, and he looked over at his brother. They were suppose to spend the day together, and he wasn't about to leave Seto alone. After all he was doing this for Mokuba, he'd gone out of his way to get him the autograph, and –even though he looked bored –Seto was enduring the game just for Mokuba. Mokuba was torn, he wanted to see Gwen and check out the sky box that she was in, but he didn't want to leave his brother either. Maybe if he just went up for a few minutes Seto wouldn't notice, he'd say that he wanted to get a souvenir, and then slip up by Gwen. Five minutes that would be it. 

            Mokuba got up, and Seto shot him a look, asking, "Where are you going now? You're not hungry again are you?" 

            "No, I just wanted to check out the souvenirs," Mokuba lied, he felt his voice falter, but tried to look happy. In his mind he kept thinking, "Five minutes, that's all, just five minutes." 

            "Why not wait until after the game," Seto asked. "The Giants just took the field." 

            "Well they'll be a lot of people after the game buying gifts," Mokuba explained. "I might not be able to get one…" 

            "Just wait until the ninth, and then we can go and check and see if they have any of those silly fuzz balls with the feet," Seto joked. Mokuba sat down; he'd never be able to convince his brother to let him leave now. Seto changed the way he was sitting making it harder for Mokuba to climb over him in order to get out. He crumpled the pass in his pocket, Gwen would just have to wait, Mokuba decided. 

            "Already the middle of the seventh and he's not up here yet," Gwen mumbled to herself, and crossed her arms. Beside her a gentleman sat looking at his watch. 

            "Ah, Ms. Scotts," said the man, "I really have to get back to my family, they'll be waiting for me and…" 

            "Trevor, you're going to stay here and wait until I tell you to leave," Gwen barked at him, and the man became quiet. Had it not been for her connections, this blow hard would never have made it in the movie business. She bit her lip and turned on her phone. Kaiba had to be behind keeping Mokuba from coming up to see her. Well she could fix that little problem. She dialed his cell number, but got his office. 

            "Hello, Kaiba Corporation," said Amy. 

            Gwen pinched her nose and talked through her teeth, making her voice sound different, "Hello, I'm calling to speak with Mr. Seto Kaiba, I'm a designer at Industrial Illusions, and I wanted to show him some of our newest rare cards…" 

            "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba left strict orders that he is not to be disturbed today," Amy informed her. "You'll have to call back on Monday." 

            "Damn," thought Gwen, "I would have thought a guy like him would have been happy to get an interruption. I'll just have to try another way."

            "Oh," said Gwen in her strange voice, "Well can you tell me at least where he is." 

            "At a baseball game in San Francisco," Amy said plainly then added. "Would you like to leave a message?" 

            "No, no, I'll get a hold of him, Good-bye then," Gwen said and hung up. She quickly called down to her spy and said. "Mark got a job for you, I need you to call the main office here at the stadium, have them page Seto Kaiba, say that it's urgent and that you have to talk to him. Got that, don't stop until they make a public address paging him, okay. Thanks."

            She sat back and smiled as the man named Trevor looked at her puzzled. Gwen smiled thinking, "Trust me Kaiba, I will beat you yet. And then I'll take either your cards or your brother…who knows…if I play my cards right I'll get both!" 

            The beginning of the eighth inning made Mokuba tense, the score was tied, but he kept looking up at the sky boxes, and wondered if Gwen was sad because he'd let her down. He fiddled with the ball in his hand, and Seto noticed this. 

            "Hey," he leaned over and said in a low voice, "If you want right after the game we'll go to the harbor and check out those boats that you said you wanted to see." 

            "Sure, "Mokuba said glumly, and Seto watched him in wonder. Before he'd gone to the bathroom Mokuba had been fine, he'd acted like he normally would. But now he had fallen silent, and was acting like he didn't care about anything." 

            "You feeling okay, kid?" Seto asked and brushed Mokuba's forehead to feel for a fever, he was cool. "That hotdog taste okay?" 

            "Oh yeah, it was fine," Mokuba told him trying to smile but all he could see was Gwen looking very sad, and lonely. Seto was about to ask if Mokuba wanted to go home, when the public address system went on and he heard a voice say very loudly. 

            "Would a Seto Kaiba please come to the main office, there is an urgent phone call for Seto Kaiba! Would Seto Kaiba please come to the main box office…" 

            "Damn," thought Seto and he got up. "Smith, could you please watch Mokuba for me, I'll be back as soon as I find out what moron is paging me." 

            Smith nodded as Seto headed up the stairs to the back, thinking, "This had better be important, because if it isn't, someone's going to be out of a job."   

            Mokuba waited several seconds until he couldn't see his big brother anymore, and got up to go up the stairs. Smith called to him, "Mokuba, where are you going to? You're brother will be back soon enough. Stay here, you'll miss the game." 

            "I'll be right back," Mokuba shouted as he kept climbing the steps, "I need to go see something. I promise Smith, five minutes!" 

            Mokuba ran up the rest of the stairs and down the concourse, pushing past people as he went, and then up the stairs that he saw Gwen go up. He climbed them two at a time, and found himself in a rather plush looking hallway. There was a mural of several famous Giant players, and stats about each of them. Doors were marked with numbers, and Mokuba pulled out his pass, it listed the number five for the skybox. Counting down he walked further from where he'd come in, and found skybox number five near the end of the hall. He also found an officer wandering down towards him, and paused when he saw Mokuba. 

            "Excuse me, young man, you're not suppose to be up here if you don't have a pass," explained the officer, and Mokuba quickly showed him the pass Gwen had given him. The officer looked it over and waved him two doors down from where they stood. Mokuba thanked him and knocked on the door. Inside Gwen was saying something to the man named Trevor. 

            "Remember, be nice, or I'll tell you're wife about that blonde that I saw you with last week." 

            "But I keep telling you that she was an old high-school friend that I was talking to, that's all!" Trevor said to her, and Gwen smiled. 

            "I know that, but will your wife really believe it?" She got up when she heard the door knock, and Donovan opened the door. Mokuba peeked his head in and Gwen rushed over, Mokuba noticed at once that she looked very happy to see him. "Mokuba, I thought you weren't going to come up and see me." 

            "It took me a bit, but I made it, like I promised," he said as she gave him a hug. He liked that a lot, Gwen had a very soft touch. 

            "Mokuba, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine," Gwen said ushering him over to the man named Trevor. Mokuba gawked when the man stood up; he was very good looking like a movie star, and smiled brightly. Mokuba knew who he was before he even introduced himself. 

            "I know who you are," Mokuba said when the man extended his hand and shook Mokuba's. "You're Trent Trevor. I've seen all you're movies, Mr. Trevor," –then he added –"Well all the movies that are not rated for older adults. My brother says not until I'm older." 

            "You've got a very smart brother," said Mr. Trevor. "So Mokuba, Gwen's been telling me a lot about you. Vice president of Kaiba Corporation, an excellent video game player, she told me you were the only person to beat her score in the arcade in Venture. So how do you like California so far?" 

            "It's very cool, Mr. Trevor," Mokuba said and Gwen grinned. Mokuba talked a long time with Trent Trevor, and forgot about the time. Gwen was counting on this, and she made sure that when Trevor left Mokuba would stay a bit longer. 

            "Want to check out the big screen TV?" she asked and tuned it to some cartoons. "How about something to eat, lots of food from the park up here, they supply it."

            Mokuba snacked on some veggies and dip, and played a bit with Gwen who said they should try and rename the players. The new names were very goofy, like Bug-Eared Grace, or Slip and Slide Sosa, and Midget Murphy. It was when Mokuba noticed a clock on the TV screen that he realized how long he'd stayed. 

            "Oh no!" Mokuba thought seeing that he'd stayed a half hour instead of the five minutes he promised. He got out of the expensive recline that he was sitting in and headed for the door. "Gwen I have to go. Seto will notice that I'm gone, and he'll be worried." 

            "Oh," Gwen said looking sad. "Well, um, can you come back?" 

            "No, after the game we'll be going down to the harbor to check out the boats," Mokuba told her. Gwen nodded in a knowing way. "I've gotta go, Bye." 

            "Bye for now," Gwen said, and made a mental note to have her car follow Mokuba's after the game. Mokuba headed down the hall, and back down the stairs. As he came down he was surprised to see Smith hurrying over to him. 

            "Mokuba, where've you been? I've been looking all over for you," Smith told him, huffing and puffing. "You're brother going to be back any minute. Come on, we've got to get back to the seats before he comes looking for us." 

            Mokuba nodded, and felt bad. He should have kept a watch on the time that way Smith wouldn't have gone looking for him. He knew that Smith could get into trouble lying to Seto, and that made him feel even worse. As they hurried back to the main area Smith asked, "Where were you really?" 

            "I…" Mokuba started to say that he'd gone to see a friend, but stopped. He didn't know if Smith knew about Seto not wanting him to see Gwen, so he fibbed, "I went to see the skyboxes. I heard some kid say that they were really cool, and I snuck up there for a while, and got lost." 

            "Well, you should have just asked your brother to take you," Smith scolded him kindly. "I'm sure they would have let Seto Kaiba go check out the skyboxes." 

            Mokuba nodded and asked, "Are you going to tell him?" 

            "No, but you can't go doing that again," Smith told him, but smiled. "I remember when I was you're age, I use to try and sneak into the players club house. So I won't tell. You can count on me." 

            Mokuba thanked him and they went down to the seats where Seto was waiting looking very upset. 

            "Where were you?" He asked Mokuba. "You know better then to go running off on your own; this isn't like Domino City, Mokuba." 

            "Sir, it wasn't all that bad," Smith cut in and explained that Mokuba had gone to find out a vender selling some bobble heads. "See I wanted to get one as a gift for my granddaughter." 

            "That's still not a good excuse for him to go running around on his own," Seto said, he was still mad, but decided that it was better to let it go. Mokuba was back, and he was safe. The phone call had been a prank, someone claiming to be a designer at Industrial Illusions, and Seto had had the call traced to the park, and asked security to find the man. He'd talked to the man, and while they were talking the security guards found him and led him out of the park. As they took him out, Seto had asked why he had called, and the man smiled in a way that gave Seto a chill. On his way back Seto had noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and turned just in time to see a man that he recognized. Edward Donovan, and that meant one thing, Gwen Scotts was at the ballpark. He'd run back to his seat, hoping that Mokuba and Smith were still there, but when he arrived, he saw that neither was where he'd left them. Seto's heart went into his throat, and he thought of only one thing. Gwen must have ordered the phone call as a distraction to get at Mokuba. But then why had Smith disappeared, he only hoped that nothing had happened to the old man. That was why he was so upset when he saw the two of them come back together, and had snapped at his little brother. 

            When the game ended, Cubs loosing nine to seven, Seto ushered Mokuba right to the car. 

            "Seto, what about the souvenirs," Mokuba asked, and Seto shook his head. 

            "Not now Mokuba," the faster they got out of the ballpark the better he would feel. Little did Seto know that they were being tailed; Donovan was watching them leave and reported to Gwen that they were in the parking lot. 

            "Well then get the car, and I'll meet you out front," she hissed into her phone and smiled to herself. This was going to be fun. 

            The ride to the harbor was quiet. Mokuba watched his brother nervously, as Seto tapped his fingers on his knee. Mokuba knew that Seto was upset, and he wasn't looking at Mokuba. So it was a surprise when his big brother spoke kindly a moment later, "Sorry about the attitude back there. Just frustrated, that page turned out to be a crank call." 

            "Oh," was all Mokuba said and looked down at his feet. It was rare for his brother to apologize for what he did, and Mokuba would have been happy to hear it. But he was feeling rather bad about what he'd done at the ballpark. He'd snuck off, defied his brother and lied to his friend Smith. Not to mention nearly getting both of them in trouble with Seto, who could have fired Smith if he'd wanted to. Seto picked up on the look and poked his brother. 

            "Stop," Mokuba said, and Seto poked him again, only in a different spot on his arm. "Quit it." 

            Seto poked him again, and again, only now he said, "Poke," each time he did it. Mokuba tried not to giggle, and Seto kept poking him. "Poke, poke, poke." 

            "Seto, stop, or I'll get you back!" Mokuba shouted, and Seto had a look of mock offence. 

            "Poke," he said without poking Mokuba, who shouted. 

            "You want me to get you back! You know I can." 

            "No you can't," Seto said, and poked him again. Mokuba launched himself at Seto, intending to tickle him, but Seto caught him by the arms, and started to tickle him instead, saying "Poke. Poke. Poke." 

            Mokuba shouted through laughs, "Seto, Stop. Hahahaha, it tickles, stop!" 

            By the time they got to the harbor, Mokuba was worn out. His face was red from laughter, and both brothers felt a lot better. They started touring the harbor, Mokuba running ahead of Seto and pointing out all the different types of ships. For a while things seemed to be running smoothly until Seto yawned and sat on the grass. 

            "Huh, don't tell me you're tired," Mokuba asked his brother who nodded. "Aww come on Seto…" 

            Seto got up, and stretched, while he was tired he wasn't about to disappoint Mokuba. They walked a bit farther, and Seto spotted a rather nice looking yacht. He was watching this, when Mokuba looked at another ship and saw Gwen waving to him. She beckoned him to come over, but he shook his head and pointed to his brother. She pretended to dry her eyes, and begged. Seeing her look like that Mokuba bit his lip. He wondered what she wanted, but didn't know how to get away from Seto. That's when he spotted the crates by one dock. He slipped away from Seto and hid behind them. 

            "So what do you think of this one," Seto was asking, when he glanced over at his side and saw that Mokuba was gone. Smith was just coming back with some shaved ice and he saw Seto looking around frantically. 

            "Sir," Smith started to say when Seto said. 

            "Mokuba didn't come over by you did he?" 

            "No," Smith shook his head. "He's run off again?" 

            "I'm not sure," Seto admitted. "Look, you head up that way, I'll double back, and he may have gone ahead of me. If you see him, call me." 

            Smith nodded and tossed the shaved ice. Seto turned and headed back down the dock calling out for his brother. While Smith headed up the pier, shouting out for Mokuba. Mokuba waited until both Smith and his big brother were well down the dock before he crawled out and hurried over to the ship where he saw Gwen wave at him. She was already down on her landing; in her hand was a glass of juice. She smiled when she saw him. 

            "Come on in, and check out my ship," she invited, and Mokuba shook his head. 

            "I can't Gwen, I almost got into trouble at the ballpark," Mokuba told her and she clasped her hands together. 

            "Please, pretty please. I really want you to check out my boat. I swear, only a few minutes." 

            Mokuba looked into her pleading blue eyes, and fought with in his mind with himself, "You know you can't, this was supposed to be your day with Seto, don't go on." 

                "Come on," said his other side, "Seto let you down a number of times, remember what he did during Duelist kingdom, and then with Noah…He didn't even care that he was dead. So why shouldn't you do what you want to?" 

            "Because he loves you Mokuba," the first voice said. "He took this day off just to be with you, and he wouldn't do this for anyone else, you know this. So tell your friend no. If she's really your friend she'll understand and not press it." 

            "But look at her," said the second voice, "She likes you, and you like her. I mean she's kissed you twice already, so why not take a chance…" 

            Mokuba made up his mind and followed Gwen into the ship, but he resolved that he would only be there for a few minutes, no more no less. Gwen took him around the ship, showing him all the rooms with many different decorations. She was happy that he was impressed with it, "I'm going to sail around the world one day on it. It's called the Sapphire Dragon." 

            "You know how to sail a ship?" Mokuba asked her and Gwen nodded. There was more to Gwen than met the eye, and Mokuba was happy to have her as a friend. Seto knew how to fly a plane, but he didn't know how to sail a ship at all. "Could you teach me some day?" 

            "Be happy to," Gwen told him and showed him the bridge, and tried to explain all the knobs, buttons, and levers that helped steer the ship. Mokuba kept an eye on the time on Gwen's watch, and when about ten minutes were up he quickly said. 

            "I have to go now," She seemed disappointed but agreed, and took him back down to the main dock. "By the way, how did you know we'd be at this dock?" 

            "I didn't it must be fate," she laughed. 

            "Or destiny," joked Mokuba, and Gwen finished. 

            "Blue Destiny, to be precise," and she gave him a long hug. She looked up behind her little friend and saw Donovan watching her. He looked rather displeased, but she didn't care. It was none of his business what she did with the little fool, and the less he knew the better she felt. After all she was starting to doubt her own plan, and that bothered her. The more time she spent with Mokuba the more time she wanted to spend with him. He made her feel less lonely, something she'd not felt in a long time. When she let go Mokuba ran down the landing pad and she waved at him. 

            Mokuba rushed back down the dock and soon spotted Seto who was talking with a guard, asking if he'd seen a little boy in a stripped shit, with black hair and blue eyes. 

            "Seto," called Mokuba and Kaiba rounded on his brother upon seeing him. 

            "Mokuba Kaiba," he said, his voice low and he looked very angry. Mokuba knew that when Seto used his full name he was in for a long talk, however, Seto just knelt down and hugged Mokuba tightly, then said, "Don't do that to me. What's going on here, why do you keep disappearing like this? Are you trying to scare me on purpose?"

            "No, I'm sorry, "Mokuba apologized, he really was. "You seemed tired, so I thought I'd let you rest and I'd go look at some of the smaller boat. I'm sorry I scared you, but this one captain let me on his boat." 

            "Mokuba, you know better then to go onto strangers," Seto started to say but Mokuba quickly cut in. 

            "It was one of the business men that you talked to before, remember, he's related to Otogi, Yugi's friend. The guy who came up with Dungeons, Dice, and Monsters, that's why I went on. Really, Seto, it's true." 

            Seto sighed, "Well, next time let me know before you go running off." 

            "Okay," Mokuba told him. "Um, can we go ride the trolley cars now?" 

            Seto shook his head and let out a laugh, he'd have an easier day at the office. He called Smith and told him that Mokuba was okay, it relieved the older driver. On the way to down town San Francisco Mokuba told Seto and Smith all about what he saw on Gwen's ship, leaving out the fact that it was Gwen's ship in the first place. The trolley car ride turned out to be the only time that Gwen didn't turn up, and Mokuba began to wonder why Gwen was showing up where he and Seto went. Part of him wondered if she was following them. But he dismissed that idea, and decided that it was just a coincidence that she'd shown up. After all she may have decided to go to the game because she figured she wanted to see it too. Or maybe she had tickets before hand. Mokuba felt sure that it was all just a bunch of chances that led Gwen to finding them. He put it from his mind and just hung on tight to the trolley as it took the passengers down hill. 

            The last stop of the day was the Duel Monster's museum. And this was the one place Seto seemed the most comfortable. He liked the way the place was set up, and had several areas dedicated to the best players all over the world. To his annoyance he found a section set up about Yugi Mutou. Of course there was one set up on him, but it was in with several other champions that were on one wall section. Seto recalled a phone call early last year just before the New Year where he was asked if he wanted to donate some of his dueling cards to a special exhibit being created in California. He'd told the person on the phone that he wasn't interested, and now he some what regretted this decision. 

            At first Mokuba just looked over the different duelists that they had set up special exhibits for. Each had the duelist's name, their stats on wins, and a quote about how they feel about dueling and Magic and Wizards in general. The museum also had a box that held copies of the duelist rarest cards and their decks. Mokuba though this was all very cool, until he came upon a picture that had everything removed around it, even the name of the duelist. He looked at the picture; it was of a young man with black hair, and blue eyes. He was holding up a set of cards, showing them to the photographer, and looked rather proud of them. The cards were all very powerful dragons: Emerald Dragon, Tyrant Dragon, Death Vorstagalf, Serpent Knight Dragon, and one that Mokuba couldn't see. Mokuba read the plaque, "Duelist information removed due to request by family. Please forgive this inconvenience."  

            "What are you looking at?" Smith asked coming over and looking at the picture, "Oh, are these tournament winners like your brother?" 

 "They're what you call 'Elite Duelists'. People who've made a big name for themselves in tournaments and championships," Mokuba tried to explain to Smith who each of the duelists were, and how they wound up being in the 'Hall of Champions'. 

            "That girl right there, the one with the red hair, she's the European Champion," Mokuba explained to Smith. "Seto met her once at a tournament, she's really good, and likes to use fire type monsters. And the guy there with the spiked hair, and nose ring, his name is Steven Wallace, he was the World Champion before Seto beat him." 

            "And what type of deck did he use?" Smith asked, taking off his cap and wiping his brow. The museum lights were hot, and it made Smith very warm, especially since he was wearing his black chauffer uniform. 

            "Um," Mokuba thought, trying to remember, it had been a year before, and the new World Tournament was going to happen in the fall. Steven Wallace had a very strong deck, but Mokuba had been paying more attention to his brother at the time, so he was having a hard time recalling the exact type of deck the old World Champion had. 

            "It was mostly a Thunder deck," Seto said coming over, and looked at the picture of Steven. He sniffed; the young man had been a rather poor duelist as Seto remembered, much like Jonouchi, nothing like the guy before him. Seto though had long forgotten that man's name. He'd retired his post the year before, and officially gave it to the second place winner, Steven Wallace. Seto at times wondered if he'd have gone against that duelist would he have had more of a challenge. Winning an easy duel bored him, and that was why he wanted to beat Yugi, he was one person that actually was a challenge to Seto, on all levels. Yugi was always saying that it was his heart that helped him win, namely because his grandfather had made the deck he dueled with, and his friends were always giving him cards that represented them in some way or another. So in effect he was dueling with each of his friends' hearts in his deck. Seto didn't buy this, although he did have some respect for Yugi, he still believed that it took more skill then luck to win a duel. Regardless of how much heart you put into a draw, it still came down to how much skill you had to create a good combo. 

            "Well, what a pleasure," a voice said and a man in a brown suit came over to Kaiba and Mokuba. "Mr. Seto Kaiba, the one and only World Champion, a real honor to have you here in our humble museum." 

            "And you are?" Seto asked as the man extended his hand. 

            "Oh I'm sorry," he excused himself. "I'm David Regent; the curator of the Duel Monster's Museum. Appointed by Pegasus J. Crawford himself, I'm certain he would be thrilled that you came to see his latest masterpiece. It will really cheer him up to know that there are no hard feelings about the situation with your brother…" 

            Seto looked at the man's hand, then at his face, and gave him a cold glare, and said, "Come on Mokuba, this place suddenly got too crowded." 

            "Seto, where are we going?" Mokuba asked as he followed his brother out of the room. Mr. Regent looked on with some mild surprise, as Smith quickly tipped his cap at him, and followed his bosses out of the hall. Seto went up five flights of stairs before he felt he was far enough from Regent, he needed to defuse that rather completed moment. He still had not forgotten what Pegasus did to Mokuba. Regardless of the reason why –Seto had learned through some connections about Cecilia Crawford and how Pegasus was going to use Kaiba technology to bring her back from the dead –he would not forgive what the head of Industrial Illusions for bringing such pain on Mokuba. 

            "Seto, are you okay?" Mokuba asked, and Seto took a deep breath before he spoke. 

            "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked around at the many paintings on the walls. "Where are we?" 

            Mokuba pulled out his map, and looked it over, then said, "It says here that this is the Art Gallery. This is all the original paintings from Industrial Illusions. Hey you think they may have the Blue Eyes here?" 

            "Could be, lets got take a look," Seto suggested as they went into the gallery. Below on the lower level where the Kaiba brothers had departed from Gwen Scotts was staring at the picture that had no name. She crumpled up her map, and gritted her teeth. She threw the map to the ground, and stormed out of the room, determined to find Regent and ask him why that picture was still up. She stormed up the stairs in hopes of running into Regent, to her surprise she saw Mokuba walk into the gallery with his brother and Smith. 

            "Well, well, now this is a twist," Gwen laughed and followed them into the gallery. It was very quite here and several people were admiring the art work. There were rows and rows of paintings on walls that were set up like a maze that led to the center of the room, or that led to some sort of dead end. Seto frowned; it would be just like Pegasus to create such a game within his museum. 

            "You think we should split up?" Mokuba asked Seto, who nodded. 

            "Would be the fastest way to find the painting we want," he looked at Mokuba's map, "Smith can go down that way" – he pointed left –"While we head right." 

            "Okay, that sounds fair," said Smith as he turned down a path way on the left adding, "If I find it I'll come get you two." 

            Seto nodded as he and Mokuba took the right path and headed past several paintings of powerful fiend cards. Mokuba spotted several of Seto's cards right away, including Sword Stalker, and Yugi's Skull Demon. The path narrowed and forked at several intersections and the brothers soon found themselves walking in circles. Seto became exasperated, "This place is ridiculous. You go one way and you wind up back where you started. There's no end to this…" 

            "Well, maybe we should double back," Mokuba suggested, and looked down another path. "Or I could go this way, and you can go that way…" 

            "And let you disappear on me again," Seto said crossing his arms. "Not a chance. You stay here, I'll go that way. Don't move." 

            Mokuba watched his brother until he'd gone around a bend, and then looked back at the map. Maybe there was a smaller map of the room on here somewhere, he wondered searching the fold up map. As he looked around for any indication as to which way to get out of the maze, a voice behind him said. 

            "I can take you to the center," Mokuba turned and saw Gwen standing behind him. However rather then looking happy to see her, he gave her a suspicious stare.

            "Gwen, what are you doing here?" He asked her as she came over to him. Mokuba backed up, he didn't know why, but he felt the sudden urge to run away from her and find his brother. In the dim light of the room, Gwen looked very pale, and ghost like. Her eyes gleamed out in the darkness, and had a wild, fiendish aura to them. "How did you find me? Are you following us?" 

            Gwen stopped; she put her hand down, as she was reaching out for him. Mokuba asked again, "Gwen, are you following us?"

            She smiled, "Now why would I do that?"  
  


            "Because you're everywhere we are," Mokuba told her bluntly. "And it's getting a bit creepy. I told you we were going to the ball park…" 

            "And I bought those tickets weeks ago," Gwen told Mokuba, putting her hands on her hips. "So what's the problem?" 

            "Then you show up at the harbor where we were," Mokuba cut in, watching her carefully. "But I didn't say which and you some how got there ahead of us…" 

            "So I went to go on my boat, so what?" Gwen spat back, she looked upset at his accusation, but still kept her face calm.

            "But the same exact harbor, Gwen," Mokuba said nervously. "And now here, even though I didn't say tell you where we were going." 

            Gwen rolled her eyes, "I came here to check out on something, okay. It's not like I knew you would be here." And this was true, while the other meetings were concocted so that she would be where Mokuba was, this was an honest chance that she found him here, "So, so I happened to be at the ball park, and I happened to go to the same docks. But that doesn't mean I'm…wait you think I'm stalking you, Mokuba? Am I right?" 

            Mokuba didn't meet her eye, but gave a slight nod. Gwen let her mouth open a bit with surprise. Had she gotten so lacks recently that he'd begun to doubt her. She pressed her lips together; it cut her deep that this little boy would think of her as a stalker, something that she would never be. Just because she was planning on using him, didn't mean she would go as far as stalking him to get her way. She still had her pride, and that was one thing she wasn't about to loose. 

            "Mokuba," she pouted her eyes blearing with tears. "How can you say that?" 

            "Well, it's a bit strange, you know. You being here, and ever where else," he said still not meeting her eyes. Gwen let the tears slip down her cheeks, and sniffed some. 

            "I see. So did you're brother put this in your head?" 

            "What do you mean by that?" Mokuba asked her, and she gritted her teeth. 

            "I know he doesn't like me, and doesn't trust me. But I didn't think he would make you think I was evil. Just because I told him I didn't want to sell my land to him, he thinks that he can go and break us up as friends." 

            Mokuba gave her a bewildered look; Gwen smiled inside realizing that his brother had told him nothing about their meeting. Well, she figured, she could use this to her advantage. She shook slightly as she let more tears run down her face. "Don't give me that look. You know very well what I'm talking about." 

            "No I don't, "Mokuba told her honestly. Seto had said very little about his meeting with Gwen, and refused to talk about it for some reason or other. 

            "Well you're brother asked me if I wanted to sell my land, and when I told him that I didn't want to he made it very clear that he'd find a way to get me to sell it," Gwen said plainly. She brushed away the tears as she went on. "He obviously figures that turning you against me would make me want to sell it to him. But I can't that land is very important to me. He doesn't understand this, he said…said…" 

            "Said what?" Mokuba asked now worried. He knew that Seto could be very difficult with people that were unwilling to give him what he wanted. Gwen looked around as if to see if anyone was around and bent low to Mokuba as she spoke. 

            "He said he'd get that land no matter what. And now suddenly I've been having a terrible time with business, and people are afraid to make deals with Blue Destiny." 

            "But what does that have to do with Seto?" Mokuba asked and Gwen looked very scared. 

            "Mokuba, how well do you know your brother? Because the man I met in that meeting room is very different then the boy you know as your brother. I talked with one vendor who my family has done business with for years, and he told me that he couldn't work for me anymore. And do you know what he said when I asked him why?" – Mokuba shook his head, his eyes were wide.  –"He said that he was told by men that if he did business with me, he'd have to deal with Kaiba Corp." 

            Mokuba looked down at his shoes; he'd thought Seto had given up those tactics a long time ago. Apparently he'd gone back into being the ruthless business man that Gozaburo had trained him to be. Mokuba felt tears coming into his eyes, but he wouldn't cry. Why should he believe Gwen, he'd only known her for a week or so, but then again why would she lie to him about this. She had nothing to gain, and she had something that Seto wanted, and it made sense to Mokuba that he would go after that land with all that he could. No one refused Seto Kaiba that was a fact. Or those who did tended to change their minds after a while. Only a few ever really got away with saying no to Seto. Mokuba balled up his fists, he wanted to yell, "It's not true Gwen, and you've got it all wrong." But he didn't, instead he just slumped to the floor and covered his face saying, "I'm not suppose to even see you Gwen. Seto made me promise that I'd never see you. He says that you're dangerous." 

Gwen sat down before him and felt her own tears come into her face. She'd not meant for him to cry, but she needed to get him to believe her, and if she could convince him in this way, then that's what she would do. She gently wiped his cheeks, and he pushed her hand away. "Mokuba, I'm so sorry I told you that, but you had to know. Would Seto ever tell you about this? I mean, don't you find it odd that he would say that about me? I'm younger then him by a year, I just turned fifteen, and he's going to be seventeen isn't he. So am I so dangerous? You know me Mokuba, have I ever tried to do anything dangerous to you?" 

Mokuba shook his head, and Gwen went on. "So why don't you ask him about it if you don't believe me." 

She got up and departed, leaving Mokuba by himself. In his mind he watched a tug of war between Gwen and Seto, with him being the rope. Seto had never said why he hated Gwen so much, but he was now determined to ask him as soon as he came back. Mokuba stood up when he heard footsteps coming from the same direction that Seto had gone. His big brother came into view a second later, looking slightly tired but happy. 

"Found it, come on." Seto said, and Mokuba followed slowly. He was upset about what Gwen said and wasn't sure if he could believe her. 

"They have it in the center, along with the Black Magician," Seto explained as he led Mokuba down several paths and past many paintings of cards. When they did reach the center Mokuba was surprise that there were two paintings of the Blue Eyes, one the original painted by Pegasus, and a second that had a plaque that just said 'Anonymous Artist.' The first was very nice, and Mokuba really liked it, but the second was amazing. The Blue Eyes looked very real, and very strong. It seemed to be dancing in the air, with its wings unfurled. Mokuba got closer to the painting and read the initials that the artist left. 

"JS," he said aloud, and looked up at Seto. 

"I want this," Seto said to no one. "You think they'd sell it?" 

Mokuba suddenly frowned; why did his brother want everything that he saw. He understood him wanting the Blue Eyes, but this was taking it too far. This picture was meant for the Museum not for him. 

"No, and I don't think you should go demanding for things that people don't want to sell," Mokuba spat, and stormed away.

Seto followed wondering, "What the hell was that about?" 

When he caught up with his little brother outside of the gallery; he grabbed Mokuba by the shoulder, but Mokuba shook him off. "What's the matter now? Why did you go off like that in there? All I was doing was saying that I wanted to buy it. I know I can't, but that doesn't mean I can't think about it." 

Mokuba turned to face his brother and blurted out, "What happened at the meeting with Gwen?" 

"What?" Seto was utterly confused now, why was Mokuba asking about the meeting now of all times. "Why do you…" 

"Tell me what happened," Mokuba said his eyes bright. "Please tell me the truth, did you threaten Gwen?"  

Click, the light bulb went on in Seto Kaiba's head and he looked directly at Mokuba, "She's here isn't she. Did you see her here Mokuba?! Did she talk to you, tell you something?" 

"Seto, just tell me what happened at the meeting…" 

"Not until you tell me if she's here," Seto said so loudly that some people stared at him. He didn't care, let them look. Mokuba scowled back and crossed his arms, shaking his head. 

"You first, I need to know right now…" 

"Not until you…" 

"I'm not telling you anything Seto," yelled Mokuba who was really angry. How could his brother keep this from him? He'd thought he'd changed after Battle City, thought that Seto was going to act like the brother he use to be, before he became obsessed with beating Yugi. But now he was taking that frustration out on everyone else, including someone that Mokuba really cared about. Gwen was one of the first girl's he'd ever thought of outside of being a friend. She wasn't like Anzu, who he thought was okay, she was different and special. "I'm supposed to be the Vice President of Kaiba Corporation. I should know what's going on, okay, but you always keep me in the dark. You're always keeping secrets from me, so why should I tell you anything?"

"Fine," Kaiba said coldly, his eyes narrowed. He'd never felt this angry at his little brother; right now he thought that Mokuba was acting like a total jerk. But he sucked in his resentment, and told Mokuba his side of the story. "You want to know about that witch I'll tell you about her. I'll tell you what type of person she really is. A ruthless cold hearted bitch. Gwen Scotts only cares about one person, Mokuba, herself! She came in to that meeting with one goal, to make it very hard for me to get Kaiba Land up and running. Yes I threatened her, but only after she threatened me. She made it very clear in her offer that she would only give me the land that I need, if I give her something specific. But I refused, and she warned me that she would come after my jugulars, in short my weakest point, and that would be you Mokuba. She's using you to get to me, to get to something that I have. Why it is, I don't know, but she's not going to stop until she gets it. So there you go. Satisfied?! You're friend is nothing but a liar. I don't know what she told you, but none of it is true." 

Mokuba stared at his brother; he'd never seen him look at him with such extreme dislike. Mokuba didn't know which one to believe: Seto said that Gwen had given him an offer, but what ever it was he wasn't about to give it up or Gwen, who had said that Seto was determined to get the land no matter what. He felt torn, and hurt, and didn't know what to do or who to talk to. He just wanted to get away from his brother, and was glad to see Smith who had just come out of the gallery. 

"Boy some of those monsters in there can give the old Hammer movies a run for their money," He looked from Mokuba to Seto and back and at once knew that they had had some sort of fight. Mokuba was the first to speak. 

"Mr. Smith, can I go back to the car?" 

Smith looked to Seto who glowered at him, and Mokuba felt like kicking his brother in the shin. But just said, "You don't have to listen to him, I'm you're boss too you know." 

"Listen," Smith said calmly and gently ushered Mokuba towards the stairs. "Lets you and me go down to the dinning room on the lower level, they've got some good Italian ice down there. We can have some and let you two cool off, okay." 

Mokuba nodded, but shot Seto a look of utter contempt. Seto didn't even look back, but before Mokuba got to the second landing Seto leaned over the marble railing, and shouted, "Mokuba, what did she tell you?" 

Mokuba looked up, and shouted back, "You keep your secrets, I'll keep mine!"

Smith quickly, but tenderly, pushed Mokuba down the stairs way. Seto watched them until they were gone, and then he slumped against a wall. He shot anyone who looked at him a stare that asked, 'what are you looking at?!' that made the party move away faster. He felt angry, but at whom he wasn't sure. Himself, for not telling Mokuba about the meeting and explaining the whole incident with the Blue Eyes to his little brother, Mokuba, for believing someone else over him, or Gwen, for putting ideas in his brother's mind. How he hated her, and when he found her he'd make sure that she wouldn't bother Mokuba again. Seto was about to go back down to the lower level, when he heard foot steps stop right behind him. 

"Hello, Scotts," he said in a low voice as she came around to face him. Her eyes were bright, and she smiled at him, like a cat that had swallowed a cannery. 

"Ah, hello, Kaiba," she said and then added, "Here with your brother then? Like this place. Has a nice echo, makes it easy to hear arguments you know" 

Seto snapped; she was making small talk like she had no idea what had happened. But he knew that she had to have been nearby the whole time. He grabbed her by the arm and shoved her against the railing. Gwen laughed at him, and purred, "My, my, quite swift aren't you, run track at school?" 

"Cut the crap," Seto spat and held her by both her arms. "What the hell have you been telling my brother?" 

"I don't see how that's any of your," Gwen started to say so Seto squeezed her arms a bit harder making it clear to her that he wasn't kidding around. "Why do you want to know?"  
 

"Because he just asked me why I threatened you and the only person in that room that heard me say anything like that was you," Kaiba stated and his face twisted into rage. "So, tell me right now, what lies have you been feeding him?" 

Gwen smiled again and zipped her lip, that was it for Seto; he pushed her up higher over the railing, whispering, "This is about three stories straight down, Scotts. I wonder how long it would take for a person to fall from this height and hit the ground." 

"You wouldn't dare," Gwen hissed, and Seto let his grip relax. Truth was, he wouldn't, and he was no murder. He'd threatened to kill himself and Pegasus, but while he would kill to keep his brother safe, he didn't know if he could really push her over the edge. Rather he was just going to scare her. Gwen glanced down, and Seto noticed at once a change came over her. She was no longer smirking, rather her face became even paler then she already was. Her eyes dilated into small pools of blue and she started to shake. 

"No, daddy no," she whispered and shuddered in his grip. Seto watched her as she began to twitch and her face twisted into panic and fear. Either she was doing an acting job worthy of an Emmy or, Seto thought and then comprehended, "or she's having some sort of attack." 

"Daddy, don't please, bring us down Daddy," Gwen shouted and tried to pull free of Seto who was now trying to pull her back from the railing. Below Mokuba and Smith were just coming up the stairs when they saw Seto yank Gwen from the railing. Seto pulled her back over to the wall, where she slumped onto the floor, still shaking and muttering. Her eyes were far off, as if she was seeing some sort of private hell, and Seto took her by the shoulders calling out her name. 

"Scotts, wake up, you're in a museum. Come on you moron, get your senses back," Seto shook her slightly, and Gwen finally snapped out of the daze she was in. When she looked at him, it was a look of someone who had just relived the worst moments in her life. Gwen gave Seto a hard shove, pushing him to the floor, and yelled, "Keep away from me!" 

She got up and bolted from the scene back into the gallery, this just as Mokuba and Smith came onto the landing of the top floor. Seto got up, and rubbed his shoulder, which was sore, and he knew his cheek was bleeding. She'd managed to scratch him when he'd pulled her from the railing. Mokuba looked at his brother then to where Gwen had run, but asked nothing. 

"I think," Smith said carefully, "That we should all go home now." 


	7. Chapter 7:Computer War

Blue Destiny 

            Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh.  Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

            Author's Notes: Okay thank you to Cytrus for giving me a great idea, and to the reviewer who also put another good idea in my head. And than you for taking the time to review this. ^_~ I'm going to try to do my best to keep this story as exciting as possible. Oh and one more thing, due to some math that I did, and also events that will be coming up in the chapter 9, I had to make some changes in chapters 2 and 6. And uh one more thing, I don't know if I at all mentioned it but Gwen is 15 and was born on April the 10th. ^_^

            Side Note: // -// indicates messages via the computer.

I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Duke Devilin =Ryuji Otogi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford

Chapter 7: Computer War

            The car ride home from the museum was silent. Mokuba refused to speak to Seto, and Seto was in no mood to make nice with his brother. His mind was buzzing wildly. Just what had happened to Gwen Scotts that would terrify her so much of falling? He frowned, what made her start to scream like that, and why only when she looked down. This was a puzzle, and one he intended to solve. 

 As they pulled up the hotel Smith gently parked the car before the entrance. He cleared his throat, so as not to upset either of the young men that sat in the back seat, and said slowly, "Well, I'm sure that both you boys have had enough time to cool off. Mr. Kaiba, I know it's not my place, but I have to say, Sir, that it seems a bit tense back there. And I was thinking, maybe if the two of you stop giving one another the silent treatment then…" 

            "I have nothing to say to him," Seto told Smith getting out of the car, and not looking at all at his little brother. Mokuba felt his anger rise. Fine if that was the way he wanted it to be, then that was the way he'd be treated. Mokuba got out on the other end and rushed past his big brother, he didn't want Seto to see that he was crying. Seto followed Mokuba into the lobby and saw his little brother sprint to an elevator, and get on, not waiting at all for Seto to board with him. Kaiba sighed to himself, and pulled out his phone. If Gwen was suffering from some mental problems he wanted to keep Mokuba away from her, and he needed to make certain that Mokuba was so occupied that he wouldn't have time to think about Gwen, or anything else for that matter. 

            "Amy," Seto said into the phone when he got his secretary, "I need you to find out about all the day time programs in the area. Museums, camps, anything that would keep an eleven year old gamer busy." 

***

            The following week Mokuba found himself drenched in activities. It started on Monday when a woman in a coaching uniform came to pick him up. 

            "I'm sorry ma'am, but I think you have the wrong room," Mokuba told her when she buzzed the bell to their penthouse. 

            "You are Mokuba Kaiba, aren't you," the woman said, her tan face smiling brightly at him. 

            "Yes," Mokuba said slowly, giving the woman a queer look. 

            "Then I'm at the right place," the woman said, all smiles. 

            "Seto," Mokuba called, as his brother came down, dressed for work. They still were not talking, but for the moment Mokuba forgot all about that. "Um, there's a woman here saying that she's here to pick me up for Soccer camp." 

            Kaiba nodded as he chomped on a muffin, he thought he'd told the chefs not to make the banana nut ones with walnuts –he hated walnuts, "That's right." 

            "What?" Mokuba shouted, as Seto came over and shook hands with the woman. 

            "Marcia Davis, camp director, at your service. Um, young man is your father around?" 

            "No," Seto said bluntly, "he's dead." 

            Marcia's face drew a blank, and she pulled out a clipboard from her bag, and looked it over. "Wait, it says here that Seto Kaiba, parental guardian, called to sign up Mokuba Kaiba for soccer camp." 

            "Yes, and I'm Seto Kaiba," Seto calmly explained, he was already annoyed by this woman. "I'm Mokuba's guardian, as of October 25 1995, when I turned 15. Do you need to see the legal documents, or something? Or is this a problem for you?" 

            "No, no," Marcia said putting away the clipboard. "Not at all, it's just, well I've never had a brother sign up his little brother for soccer camp, it's usually the moms and dads." 

            "I see," said Seto coolly, and Marcia gave him a nervous smile. Kaiba looked at Mokuba and tossed his head slightly in the direction of the stairs. "Shouldn't you go get dressed?" 

            "I guess so," Mokuba said in a distant voice, but his eyes were hard. He'd wanted to try and talk to Gwen today to see exactly what had happened to her in the museum. But now he couldn't thanks to his brother. Mokuba stormed up the stairs and into his room. Five minutes later he came out, dressed to go play soccer, but looking very miffed. Marcia at once commented at how cute Mokuba looked in his shorts and t-shirt. This led Mokuba to cast a very dark look at his brother. 

            "Aren't you going to say bye to your brother," asked Marcia as Mokuba pushed past Seto out into the hallway. 

            "Why bother, he doesn't care if I come back or not," Mokuba shot in Seto's direction. "Isn't that right, big bro. So long as I'm kept away from the big bad white wolf, right?" 

            Seto said nothing, but the look in his eyes could have killed a charging bull rhino. Mokuba sniffed, he didn't care. He knew why Seto was doing this; it was a punishment for him for becoming friends with Gwen, and for questioning him. Marcia rushed after Mokuba and Seto slammed the door behind her. For the rest of the day Mokuba found himself being dragged around town by different people, insisting that it was all for the best, and that he could make new friends. But the only friend he wanted to be with was Gwen, and Seto had made sure that he couldn't get into contact with her. 

            The week past rather slowly, Mokuba gritting his teeth during each new camp that he had to go to, and exhausting him so much that he didn't even have time to check his email. It was early on a rainy Thursday morning that Mokuba found himself alone in the penthouse. His surfing class had been canceled due to the rain, and Seto had gone early to work. For some reason Seto had been receiving several phone calls during the day, many of which Mokuba was not allowed to answer. This had irritated Mokuba to no avail. Seto was back to keeping secrets from him, and Mokuba had a feeling it had to do with Gwen. He was just about to close down his lap top and take a nap; there was nothing better to do, when his IM started to blink like crazy. He clicked on it, and saw that it was an instant message from someone called "DragonTamer15". 

            Mokuba knew better then to open IM's from people he didn't know, and one of the few strict rules that Seto had placed upon his internet use was that Mokuba couldn't hand out his IM name. So he was very hesitant in opening up the mail, but curiosity got the better of him and he Okayed the message. 

            DragonTamer15: // Hello there. //

            CapMonChamp: // Uh, Hi. //

            DragonTamer15: // Thank goodness I was able to find you. You have no idea how much I've missed 

                                              talking to you. //

            CapMonChamp: // Huh? Sorry but I don't even know you. How did you get my IM name? //

            DragonTamer15: // I have my ways. Lol. //

            CapMonChamp: // You have your ways? Wait who is this? //

            DragonTamer15: // Isn't it obvious? //

            CapMonChamp: // No. //

            DragonTamer15: // Have you totally forgotten about me already, Prince Charming? Sniff. //

            CapMonChamp: // Gwen? //

            DragonTamer15: // Lol, yes of course it's me. Took me a long time to find you, but I did it. //

            CapMonChamp: // You shouldn't be talking to me, I'll get into big trouble. //

            DragonTamer15: // Why? //

            CapMonChamp: // Because if Seto finds out he'll be really mad…//

            DragonTamer15: //…He hasn't been hurting you has he? He hasn't hit you or anything like that?! //

            CapMonChamp: // What? No, he'd never do anything like that! No I'm just being punished. //

            DragonTamer15: // ?? For what? //

CapMonChamp: // More like I'm in prison. Seto has me going to all sorts of places. Keeping busy. That's all. I just feel like I'm being punished for believing you. //

            DragonTamer15: // Is that so…//

CapMonChamp: // Yeah. He's been so busy recently. It's weird, I've never seen him like this. It's scary. 

DragonTamer15:// What do you mean by? //

CapMonChamp: // Well, for example, I'll pick up the phone when it rings and Seto will tell me to give to him.  He won't even let me talk to the person, he'll just grab it and give me a look that says, "Didn't I tell you not to answer the phone." And then he'll go into the     other room to talk. And, when he comes out he's hardly talks, like he's really thinking about something. And he won't tell me what! It's driving me crazy. Listen I better log off, if anyone sees me they may tell him. //

DragonTamer15: // Can you tell me the names of the places you've gone to. //

            Mokuba read and then reread the last passage, and wondered why Gwen would want to know the names of the places he went to. 

CapMonChamp: // You aren't going to follow me to those places are you? //

DragonTamer15: // No. But I need the names. //

CapMonChamp: // Why would you need the names? //

DragonTamer15: // Never mind, I just need them, okay. I have a plan to get you out of prison. But I 

need your help. I need you to give me the names of the places that you've been going to in order to execute the plan. Can you do this, can you give me them?//

CapMonChamp: // Why? //

DragonTamer15: // Don't you trust your Princess? //

            Mokuba felt his face get red. He wanted to trust Gwen, he really did, but something seemed rather odd about the whole thing. Still, Mokuba thought as he quickly typed in the names of the groups that Seto had signed him up for, which was the worse of two evils. Giving Gwen the names of the places he was going to, or continuing being exhausted night after night after being led all over Venture on tours that he could care less about. 

            DragonTamer15:// Thank you. I'll talk to you later tonight. //

            With that Gwen logged off the IM and smiled to herself. She rapidly typed in a command at her terminal and brought up a rather unique program that she designed. The basics were simple; the program was set up to act as search engine that pulled up information on specific subjects. In this case the subject was Mokuba Kaiba, the second step of the program was to pull up files from records that dealt with the subject matter. From there Gwen could easily, with a code breaking program, hack into the various files and change them around. She smiled as the program downloaded the files that listed Mokuba's name, and showed her the times that he was assigned in. 

            "Man, he's got him going all over the place, Surfing, museum…what the…oh come on, sea shell collecting," she thought looking at the list of activities that Kaiba had put Mokuba in to keep him busy. "Must have been getting desperate at the end, every one of them I have no part in. No sponsorship, no nothing. So that's his plan then, keep Mokuba so busy that he doesn't even have time to think about me, or anything else for that matter. But why? Why would he suddenly decide to keep his brother away from him? Unless he's up to something…" 

            Gwen frowned, "Well if that's the case, then maybe it's time to try and force his hand, see what he's been doing while his little brother is out. And I better find out who he's been talking to." 

            She quickly downloaded the files, smiling to herself Gwen set about changing the times of Mokuba's appointed activities so that they conflicted. She had to laugh at how Kaiba would certainly look upon seeing his plans go awry. She giggled at the thought of making him squirm, not knowing what to do to correct the situation, and to Mokuba she would be a hero. Gwen leaned back in her chair, and watched as the program did its dirty work, and then she sent the _corrected files back to their home computers. In her mind she could see Mokuba smiling at her, his bright eyes shining with admiration and respect. She began to daydream of the perfect situation, and she stared up at the ceiling and let her thoughts wander off into this world that she created. _

            _She could see Mokuba sitting on the ground crying, his kind face stained with tears and dirt. He was dressed, in her dream, in dirty rags and a rope for a belt. Beside Mokuba was a bucket of water, and he was on his knees scrubbing a hard floor. He was inside the __Shine__Palace__ card, and all around him the world sparkled and glistened. His blue-eyes were bright and moist from the tears, and he kept rubbing his face with his hand, which was rough from all the scrubbing that he was doing. Mokuba stopped, and covered his mouth to let out a little cough, and a soft sob escaped his parched lips. His hair was wilder then usual, and seemed to be kinky and knotted in spots, so when he brushed his hand to push it behind his ears he wound up giving it a yank. _

_            "Ow," Mokuba yelped, and rubbed his sore head. He looked so tired and sad to Gwen, not at all the cheerful little boy that she knew. Mokuba looked around, and said quietly, "I'm sooooo thirsty." _

_            Glancing up he saw a pitcher of water nearby, it was metallic silver like thing, with beads of perspiration that lingered over the neck and body. Mokuba was sweating as well, and he wiped his face with his sleeve, and licked his dry lips. But he was hesitant in getting up, and Gwen could hear his thoughts as he stared at it. "If only I could take one sip, I'm sure he wouldn't mind just that." _

_            Cautiously Mokuba crawled cautiously over to the pitcher, his little hands outstretched, a gleam of hope in his eyes. "Only one little sip, one little droplet to cool my throat, that's all I'll take. He won't miss tha,t he won't…" _

_            **SMACK!!! A hand reached out and cracked Mokuba across the face and sent the boy back to where his bucket was. Gwen saw suddenly that a tall, threatening shadow over took the whole area. Darkness now covered every inch of the room, and Gwen noticed that Mokuba was on the floor shaking with fear, bowed down all the way stretching out before the person who hit him. **_

_            "Please, I'm sorry, I was only…" the little boy tried to explain, but a cold, hard, monstrous voice cut him off. It sounded to Gwen like a snake hissing out just after it's had a good meal. _

_            "Only trying to steal my water..." the figure said as it set foot outside of the shadows, and loomed over smaller Mokuba. "You know how I feel about you going against what I want."_

_            "I know, I know," Mokuba cried out and then looked up, tears in his young eyes. "I'm sorry…Big Brother…" _

_            Gwen now saw that the person who hit Mokuba was none other then Seto Kaiba, as she figured it would be. His face was cold, cruel, dark, sinister looking, and taught, giving all the features of his face some edge. His eyes were lowered and shadowed, and there was a nasty smirk to his face. He was dressed in some outlandish black and red suit, giving him a demonic like appearance. Kaiba crossed his arms and leered down at his little brother. _

_            "Sorry," said this strange distorted version of Seto Kaiba, "sorry won't cut it this time, little brother. I should have kicked you to the curb a long time ago. Servants, like you, were meant to serve men like me. I take what I want, and use you as my cover. So long as I can say that I'm doing what I'm doing for you, then I will have no trouble getting saps to follow my commands."_

_            "Yes I understand, I'm sorry," Mokuba cried out and crawled over on his stomach, and clung to his brother's leg. "I'm so sorry; please don't feed me to your dragons. Please Big Brother…" _

_            Seto glared at him with such disgust that Gwen felt her stomach churn just looking at him. Kaiba suddenly lashed out with the leg that Mokuba was clinging to and sent his little brother sprawling. He gritted his teeth and spat, "Get away from me you worthless piece of bile. Don't you dare go touching me again, you little puke. You think you're worthy enough to touch me? I wouldn't even let you lick my shoes!" –Then he smirked again –"But don't worry about the dragons, I wouldn't let my precious Blue-eyes eat such a distasteful meal like yourself. I've have a far better punishment for you." _

_            "Please Big Brother, forgive me!" Mokuba screamed and prostrated himself before Kaiba who looked down annoyed. "I only wanted some water, I'm soooo thirsty." _

_            "Is that so," Kaiba suddenly said in a more gentle tone, Mokuba looked up as he knelt down to examine his little brother for the first time. Kaiba held up Mokuba's chin in his right hand, and twisted it this way and that, as if he were looking it over for ascetic reasons. A work of art. He smiled at his little brother saying, "You're lips look so dry, and your skin is so sallow. So all you wanted was water, huh?" _

_            Mokuba nodded, a look of hope entered his face, maybe his brother would help him out. Kaiba stood up and walked over to where the soapy bucket was, and picked it up. "Well, why didn't you say so?! Here! Have a drink!" _

_            He then poured the whole bucket over Mokuba's head, dousing the boy all over. Kaiba laughed and laughed, "You look like a drowned rat, I think I'll start calling you Rat-boy just for the fun of it." _

_            Mokuba let out a small sob, but said, "Thank you big brother." _

_            "And quit calling me that," yelled Kaiba, he grabbed hold of Mokuba by the collar and shook him. "I'm your master, you will call me Master Kaiba, understand." _

_            "Yes Big…" Mokuba started to say, quite scared of his older brother at the moment, and quickly corrected himself. "I mean, Master Kaiba." _

_            "Better," Kaiba said smirking. He threw Mokuba down to the ground, "I'm in a good mood, so I won't punish you. But you had better clean this mess up, it looks like a sty. Don't you do any work at all, Rat-boy?" _

_            "Yes Master Kaiba," Mokuba moaned and started scrubbing again as Kaiba departed. Once the demonic older brother was gone, Mokuba started to cry and sob._

_            "Oh, why can't some Fairy Godmother come and help me," he cried out. Just then a light from above cast away the gloom. Mokuba looked up and saw a girl floating down from the clouds. She wore an iridescent gown of blue and white, much like that of a fairy princess of yore. With ruffles and a large skirt with lace, and a crown of blue jewels upon her head; she was the picture of perfection and elegance. Gwen smiled gently as she landed before Mokuba. He gasped at the sight of her beauty and radiance. _

_            "Who are you?" He asked timidly. _

_            "I'm your Princess," Gwen told him. "And I've come to save you and my brother." _

_            "You have?" Mokuba asked, and she nodded. He bowed down before her and said, "Oh mighty Princess, please tell me your name so that I may serve you." _

_            "I am known simply as Gwen," Gwen told him, and then pulled a sparkling magic wand from her dress. She waved it over his head, and suddenly he was in a blue and white costume. White knickers and tights, with a blue and white tailed coat and a ruffled ascot, and silver shoes, his hair was also fixed back to it's normal untamed self. When he saw himself Mokuba let out a cry of disbelief. _

_            "Can that be me?" He asked her with awe to his young voice. Gwen nodded. _

_            "It can if you want, come with me and we'll rule this land together. Side by side, Kaiba and Scotts, no technical business can ever stop us." _

_            "I'll go, and I'll help you save your brother too," Mokuba told her. Suddenly there came a loud crash, and Kaiba ran through the doors, looking very pissed off. _

_            "How dare you try and take my little brother, Mokuba, come here! You can't trust her!" _

_            But Mokuba grabbed hold of Gwen's waist, "No I won't go with you. I'm going with Gwen. You should give her her brother back." _

_            "I won't," Kaiba cried. "He's mine all mine!" And out came a maniacal laugh. Mokuba ducked behind Gwen, who stared calmly at the raving Kaiba. _

_            "Is that so, well, I think he's got to have a say about that," Gwen raised her wand and waved it, pulling a card from Kaiba's pocket. It floated in mid air and he became speechless, then she waved her wand again and instantly a Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared before Kaiba. It let out a mighty roar, and Kaiba screamed. _

_            "No, no it can't be, I'm the master of these beasts!" _

_            "No, not of this one," Gwen retaliated, "For this one is my brother! And he's going to subject you to a horror that you have never seen before. It's payment for all the pain that you have caused, Seto Kaiba.   
To me, to your brother, and to those we love and cherish." _

_            "No, No, NOOOOOOO!" Kaiba yelled out as the dragon released a Neutron Blast that utterly obliterated him. Not even ash was left behind and Mokuba covered his eyes, when it was over he peeked out and asked. _

_            "Is he gone?" _

_            "Yes," Gwen told him, "You're free now." _

_            Mokuba let out a loud cry of exaltation and hugged Gwen again. Then the two boarded her brother and they flew off into the sky._

            Gwen opened her eyes and smiled at the thought, then scowled. The thought of flying didn't bother her, it was the height in the sky that did. Kaiba had come too close to finding her only other weakness, and she blinked wondering if that was what he was doing with the phone calls. Were he to find out about her father and his past then he might use that in retaliation. Her mind slipped back to the museum and the railing that he was holding her over. He'd let his grip relax, and she shivered. Had he not pulled her back she would have fallen to her death, but he had, and she was safe, at least for the time being. Gwen had thought she had her fear under control, but apparently it wasn't as simple as she had first figured. Rather it was still causing her to fall into attacks as it had when she was a child. But Jakob wasn't around to help her with them now. 

            Instinctively her hand reached for the broken locket around her neck and she bit her lip. Her one worry was that Mokuba would learn of this problem as well, if his brother was, as she suspected, digging around for her history. But it was no matter, at least at the present, because soon enough he would be busy trying to right the schedule she'd messed with and that would give her enough time to bury her past even further. 

***

            Seto Kaiba clicked at his laptop dully; while most of his workers were out taking their lunch, he was busy trying to locate several delicately isolated documents. For the past few days he'd purposely immersed himself into the history of Blue Destiny Enterprises, and Venture City itself. So far he'd had little luck, and very few clues to go on. It frustrated him to no end, and still he was determined to find some evidence that Gwen Scotts had forced most of her clients into illegal contracts. There was something very wrong in the fact that Blue Destiny had its hand in almost every major business within a twenty mile radius. And that most of these businesses seemed to react violently or totally ignorant when any mention of Blue Destiny came up in the conversation. 

            

            Seto had called up a favor from an investigation agency in Los Angeles to dig into the past business history of Blue Destiny, but so far they had only come up with information that Seto already had in hand. He knew that Benjamin Scotts, Gwen's great-great-great-great grandfather, had founded the company back when it was simply known as Scotts, Moore and Hardgrove: Locksmiths. Scotts, with Moore, had bought out their third partner, and renamed the business Moore and Scotts: Industrial Enterprises. They specialized in creating new security features for businesses, and for automotive companies. It wasn't until Gwen's great-great grandfather took over his father's business that the company became solely under the control of the Scotts family. He took the simple security company and turned it into a technical business, specializing in modern devices for the home and other advances of the time. Electric lawn-mowers and the like; this all helped build up the Scott's family name and income. Gwen's great-grandfather, Elijah, started to invest in the stock market, and in films, as well as manufacture props and machines to create special effects for the motion picture industry. 

            This was where the history of Blue Destiny became fuzzy. When Henry Scotts, Gwen's grandfather, took over after his father's demise, he started to contribute to campaign funds and seemed to be interested in his own run for office. This didn't amount to much, as Seto learned. Henry lost most of his family's funds in deals in Vegas with some rather nasty mob figures. Apparently his eldest son, Milford –Gwen's father, took command –by force it as it appeared to Seto –and re-established the company for the new era by investing in working with computers and other high tech money. He, somehow, managed to pull the company out of the red and made it soar over the following years. Henry retired to Europe, some where in France where he died (it had been a hell of a task to find the death certificate, and make sure it had been authentic, but Seto's team had done it), leaving his son in sole command of the company. Blue Destiny started in creating video games and systems at this time, and was up there rivaling some of the best in the business. But it was only in recent times that Blue Destiny had made a name for itself as a leader in Magic and Wizards video games. 

            What was puzzling Seto was this, Milford Scotts had died in 1987, when Gwen was five and apparently her brother took over the company, but there was no record of how Milford Scotts died or when it was that Gwen official took over as head of Blue Destiny? What was really irritating was that there was no record at all of a hand over, or any material indicating that there was a will detailing who ran the company if Milford died. There was also something that bothered Seto; it had to deal with a contract that he found that linked Blue Destiny to Industrial Illusion. This seemed to have been created back in 94, at the very latest, and was an agreement for Blue Destiny to create one of the first Magic and Wizards video games. However the thing that bugged Seto was the fact that the names had been scratched out, and replaced by new names. The whole thing had huge sections blacked out, but Seto couldn't tell why. He clicked to the next page, and saw some notes scribbled on it. 

            _Black out sections five, ten, and twenty in this document,_ the scrawled handwriting read. Seto's eyes lingered over these few words; they seemed to be the most important in the whole document. _Find out with Penderton if any of this can be used in new contract, but keep it quiet. Discussions with the name was obliterated__ this afternoon. Something to do with again the word was blacked out. Obviously, seeing as it was a public record, a certain party name would be kept off record for privacy. But, while Seto respected this, he couldn't help but grit his teeth. The most important parts of the document were kept out of his reach. He was about to shut down his computer and go home, when his phone rang. _

            "Kaiba," he said his tone crisp and curt. The caller got this, and quickly stated his name. 

            "Mr. Kaiba, this is Lenny Harrison, from the Cultural center."

            "Yes," Seto said bluntly, he didn't have time for solicitations, nor did he want them. He'd have to talk to the operator about blocking his number, especially in the afternoon.

            "Sir, I just wanted to inform you about a slight…well make that sizeable situation." Harrison told him kindly. Seto sat back in his chair and closed his eyes; he had a feeling that this was going to deal with money. 

            "And you called me because you want a donation…" 

            "No, Mr. Kaiba," Mr. Harrison replied, slightly annoyed by Seto's tone of voice. He figured had forgotten that Seto was still a teen-ager. "It has to do with your brother's scheduled activities. As you know he's been placed on several tours to our local historical and cultural sights." 

            "And," Seto said sounding annoyed now. He wanted Harrison to get to the point. 

            "And, we discovered that he has conflicting times," Harrison explained. "See, Mr. Kaiba, it appears that you signed Mokuba up for classes at one and four at our art house, but at the same time he's scheduled to be on a tour at our local auditorium." 

            Seto sat up, "What do you mean…I thought I made it clear to the woman who was creating the schedule to set up times that didn't clash. Mokuba was supposed to be on the music outing at four, and that was on Wednesday. And I know for fact that the art house class was at noon on Friday. So what's the deal here?" 

            "I was hoping you'd tell me," Harrison replied. "Hang on; let me check with one of my assistants." 

            Seto was put on hold, something that he absolutely loathed, and he drummed his fingers on the desk top. He was sure that he'd made certain that none of the classes clashed. It would have been stupid to put Mokuba in two different classes at the same time, only an idiot would do that, and Seto was no idiot. When Harrison came back on he sounded brusque, but apparently not at Seto.  

            "Mr. Kaiba, I'd like to apologize, apparently we've been hacked into. We'll correct the situation at once. I'm sorry to inconvenience you like this…"

            "Hacked into?" Seto asked and he heard Harrison sigh.

            "Yes, hacked into. I'm not sure why, but whoever did it was very good. The only strange thing was that it was only Mokuba's files that were disorganized. Again I am very sorry…" 

            Seto cut him off, "Did they get an IP?" 

            "Excuse me?" Harrison sounded surprised. 

            "An IP, a port where the person hacked from?" Seto spat back, he was standing up now, and flipped open his computer. 

            "Ah, no I'm sorry they did not," Harrison said quietly. "Mr. Kaiba, we don't have the computer capabilities like you do. Again I am sorry this happened." 

            "Yeah, so am I," Seto said and thought. "But I'm about to make someone else sorrier." 

            "Thank you for the call, Mr. Harrison," Seto said and hung up the phone. Scotts, it had to have been her. But how did she learn of Mokuba's classes? He didn't care, she'd attacked him again, and Seto was getting sick of it. He'd been playing nice, she was two year younger then him, but now it was time to take the kid gloves off.

            "So she thinks herself a hacker huh," Seto said to himself as he linked to his computer back in Domino, and smirked. "Well, she's about to meet a true expert." 

            The screen on his laptop turned black then his name blazed across it, and a voice came up. 

            "Well, it's nice to see you again." 

            "Yeah, good to see you too," Seto replied to the computer's artificial AI. "Can we cut the small talk and get to work." 

            "What, no, Hi how are you? Boy, something must be bugging you," the computer said snippily. 

            "You could say that," Seto said pulling out a head set, made it easier to work with the voice activated programs. 

            "Really? Don't tell me it's Pegasus again," the computer squeaked.  

            "No," Seto said coolly. "It's something worse. A girl by the name of Gwen Scotts. She's taken it into her head to try to go after my Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Only thing is she's trying to use Mokuba to get at me. She just recently hacked into the records office of the Cultural Center here in Venture City and changed Mokuba's scheduled activities. " 

            "Ah, the sneaky woman's approach," the computer said. "Well this is interesting. So what are we going to do about it?" 

            "Well, were about to show her what true hacking is all about." Seto said with a smile. 

            "Gotcha," said the computer. 

            "Alright, get me access to Blue Destiny Enterprises," Seto told the machine. "Knowing Gwen and her affinity for creating video games, she must keep most of her records on line." 

            "So what are we looking for?" the computer asked as it linked up to the Blue Destiny website, and then used it to access to the main headquarters computer system. 

            "Anything to do with Henry, Milford, and Gwen Scotts in the record bank," Seto explained. "I want to everything you can get on those people." 

            "And then what?" 

            "Then we go after her programs and give them a sever case of the hiccups." Seto said smirking, he chuckled. If Scotts wanted to play these kinds of games he could too. He also hoped to use the "hiccups" as a way of blocking the computer techs from noticing the missing files. He waited as the computer brought up the main data base at Blue Destiny. 

            "Alright, cross reference the main records, starting with the public information, "Seto said to the computer, "We don't want them getting wind of us just yet." 

            "Alright, if you think that's best." 

            "I _know_ its best," Seto told the computer. He watched as the AI pulled up several files with the names of Henry and Milford, but when it came to Gwen's own files, there was nothing there. Seto's brow wrinkled. 

            "That's it in the main public records, "the computer told him. "Are we going to try the private hall of records next?" 

            "On the nose," Seto said. "Use the same references, only this time look for specific files, things that had to do during time frames. Search for the Vegas acquisitions under Henry's name. For Milford I want files on his time as President of Scotts Enterprises, and for Gwen I want all her files anything that you can get on her." 

            The computer started to hum again and things ran smoothly. Seto watched as the screen changed to a virtual world, and he saw several different buildings show up as the computer scanned them. Seto noted that each was designed to look like a building out of Magic and Wizards, and he wondered if Gwen was just as fanatical about the card game as he was. The computer stopped before a large castle looking fortress that read, "Record Hall", above the top. 

            "Not very imaginative when she names them, is she," the computer quipped. "Well do we go in, or stay out here." 

            "We're going in, but be ready for anything," Seto warned her. After dealing with Pegasus he had upgraded his computer's anti-virus capabilities, but Gwen was a different type of disease so he had no idea how she would try and block him form getting at her files. 

"Standing by," the computer said. "Entering Record Hall."  
  


            Suddenly a large brick wall built itself on Seto's screen. "What the…" 

            "It's a firewall," the computer moaned. "So now what? It looks to be unbreakable."

            "Try again," Seto commanded, "Enter Record Hall." 

            Again the computer tried to get in, but another wall came up, this one made of steel. Seto smiled, she was good he had to give her that, but not good enough. 

            "Watch this," he said switching over to manual and typing in several codes. 

            "Watch what?" the computer asked, "Exactly how do you intend to get past two firewalls. The first one's like an iron gate, and the second is brick!" 

            "Yes, but brick and steel melt," Seto said, "So I'm going to heat this place up. Scotts better watch out, because I'll burn her little hall down." 

            He hit the enter key on his laptop and a flame thrower came on screen and melted a huge hole in the two walls. The computer laughed, "So that's what they mean when they say you're the toast of the town." 

            "Okay, enough with the lame jokes," Seto commented, "Enter Record Hall." 

            "Right," the computer complied and executed the command. They got to the doors, but were blocked again. Seto cursed under his breath and the computer said, "Password. It's got a lock on it, and it has a password to enter." 

            "Hummm, Gwen Scotts thinks that the world is her oyster. She'd never think that anyone would get passed the first two firewalls. But I don't think she's as egotistical as Pegasus." Seto commented to the computer. 

            "So then, how do we get in?" 

            "We decode it," Seto said and pulled up a decoder program. He set it to words and phrases, and placed it upon the locked doors to the hall of records. It took the decoder a few seconds to access the password. 

            "Blue," he said a bit surprised. "She picked Blue?" 

            Seto smirked, well it made sense, and after all it seemed to be the only damn color that she ever wore. 

            "Password," the computer chimed.

            "Blue," Seto said and the virtual doors opened. Inside was a sprawling vault, with millions of cabinets. 

            "Great, so where do we look first?" The computer asked, and Seto smiled. 

            "With H, of course." It was a start at least, Seto figured. The computer scanned entries dating back to the fifties looking for the names of Henry and Milford Scotts. What surprised Seto was the number of unfinished contracts that Blue Destiny kept. He watched, impatiently, as the down load of the first group of files came in. "Alright, now go for just Milford on his own." 

            "Looks like its clear sailing for now," the computer chimed in as it rapidly searched the files in the hall. Seto scowled and began to worry, so far it had been easy, too easy and it was making him uncomfortable. No viruses, no new firewalls. It was like Scotts didn't care if her records were hacked into. Then a disturbing thought came to him, what if all the files he was downloading were fake or fixed. It was a very real possibility. Scotts seemed like the type of person to pull off such a stunt; keep the federal government off her case on taxes and tariffs. 

            "End download," Seto commanded and the computer halted the program. 

            "Why are we stopping? I nearly had a complete…" 

            "Because she wants us to take these files," Seto stated and took over on manual. "She has the real records hidden." 

            "How do you know? Maybe she doesn't think that anyone would go after her…" the computer started to say, but Seto cut her off. 

            "No, Gwen Scotts isn't that naïve. Think about it; use your cpu, why would she not have better security up here if these were the real files." Seto stared at the numbers on screen as they whizzed by, "She has this whole record hall set up as a scam. A red herring and we were dumb enough to fall for it."  

            "So where do we go from here? You're not thinking of starting the whole thing over again, by then they will notice that we're here," the computer noted and Seto laughed. 

            "Of course not," he clicked on a set of numbers that looked right. "But what we are going to do is try to slip into their data storage. That should give us a clue if there are any hidden records, be on stand by with those names, and get ready to scan for them when I tell you." 

            "Right," the computer said and re-uploaded the names. "Standing by with names of Henry, Milford, and Gwen Scotts." 

            Seto held his breath as his data program flipped through several hundred files, then spat out seven locations where there could be hidden files. "Okay now, scan these seven; see what you come up with."

            "Scanning…." The computer replied, and when she'd finished a binging noise drew Seto's attention. "We have at least three possible hidden files sites. You want me to scan these too?" 

            "Nope, because I know that these are the files," Seto said eagerly, his eyes went wide with excitement. He had her, and soon she'd be the one trying to defend her pawns.

            "How do you know?" the computer asked puzzled. 

            "Look at the security measures she's put on these," he stated. Several icons on the dos system indicated firewalls, virus programs, and other programs that could seriously damage his computer system. Seto laughed, she was good, but not good enough to beat him. He could hack into the government's website and get past all their security measures, without getting caught. Gwen was about to learn a harsh lesson, unfortunately so was Seto.  

            "First time to get rid of these pests," he used a program to cure the viruses that lingered in the hidden records. This appeared on screen as a vaccination needle, and the computer screen indicated that the viruses were cured. Next he went after the firewalls, systematically disabling them one by one, and then came the passwords. He was able to decode most of them, and he figured he'd have to take a chance at going in with what remained of Blue Destiny's security. "Now let's see what you have to hide Gwen. Enter hidden record hall."

            While the computer scanned for the names, Seto set about giving Gwen's computer system a very bad case of the hiccups. 

            Her phone rang wildly off the hook, and Gwen jumped up from her desk. "Yeah, what is it?!" 

            "Ms. Scotts, this is Byron down in the Computer data center," said the caller, and Gwen tapped her forehead looking over at Donovan who was going over some files that she'd given to him. 

            "Yeah, so what is it?" 

            "Ms. Scotts, we have a situation down here, apparently someone has hacked into our system and is created a loop program. It's forcing the computers to crash, then reboot then crash again." 

            Gwen jumped up out of her seat, and screamed," Oh Crap! What the hell do I pay you people for? I thought that you said the security measures…" 

            "Whoever is doing this has some very sophisticated programs, we can't make heads or tails of it," Byron admitted. "We're trying to slow the worm down, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen." 

            Gwen waved Donovan over and put Byron on speaker phone, "Tracey has just informed me that there's also some activity in the Y sector of the system, apparently someone wanted to check up on our graphics, but why they would go into that sector I have no idea. There's nothing there but deleted programs…" 

            Gwen spat out a curse, and then looked at Donovan who tensed up. Both knew that Sector Y was known to the employees as a "Dumping ground" for old files. The truth though was that that was where Gwen had stored all the contracts and other files that were personal, private, and recorded meeting and agreements that were not on the record. As well as the private files of her mother, brother, and father; and worst of all it also had in there a file that she had hoped would never ever get leaked out. 

            "Try and deal with stopping the worm, I'll handle the hacker myself," Gwen told Byron, her voice shaking with anger as she spoke. Byron agreed and signed off. Gwen pulled out her laptop and attached it to her main computer. Donovan watched her with some puzzlement. 

            "Gwen, what are you going to…" 

            "Do," she finished for him as she accessed a new Magic and Wizards online duel game that Blue Destiny was working on. "I'll tell you in a moment. There, now that I have this. All I need is this." 

            Donovan watched as she pulled up a rather nasty looking virus and uploaded it into a time set release program. She smiled at her assistant with a hungry look to her eyes, it worried him. Gwen had been getting worse since the time Seto Kaiba and Mokuba Kaiba had come to Venture. Once she had been a nice girl, someone that you could trust and respect as a whole. Now though, she'd become malicious and a blackmailer, fully immersed in her own greed and needs.  It troubled him to no end, and he wondered if there was ever going to be a time when she would return to that young girl that he'd once known. 

            "I'm about to exterminate a rat, Donovan," Gwen told him as she set about finding the IP of the hacker. "And this rat is about to taste my wrath. No one, not God himself, ever hacks into my files and survives." 

            Back at Kaiba Corp, Seto watched as the files were downloaded into his computer. They were already at forty percent when a strange pinging music came out of the speakers attached to his computer. He watched as the screen shifted, shrinking the down load screen into a small window, and up popped a sand colored screen, with two sides set up like a Magic and Wizard's game sheet for beginners. 

            "What the…" he muttered and then dropped his jaw when he saw a Toon Blue-Eyes White Dragon appear on screen jumping about, waving it's arms and legs in outlandish positions. At first he was just annoyed with it, but when it made a rude gesture to him Seto shouted to his computer, "Viral control lock down, delete this…_Thing_ from my screen, NOW!!" 

            Ping! An instant message box came up with the name DragonTamer15 as the sender. Seto hesitantly clicked on it, and the Message read. //So you want to duel?// 

            //Who the hell are you?// he sent back. 

            DragonTamer15: //Jeeze, you even picked a lame screen name. You have absolutely no imagination.//

            SetKai: //Your right, I don't, so cut the crap. Who are you?//

            DragonTamer15: //Ah, ah, that would be cheating now. And I sooo like guessing games.//

            Gwen was stalling, she needed to get the "Time bomb" set up and the program was slow due to the worm Kaiba had put into her system. 

            SetKai: // I don't. So either you tell me now, or I'll destroy your computer.//

            DragonTamer15: //Come on, don't be such a spoiled sport. Your brother figured it out really fast.//

            Seto felt his pulse race, Scotts, it had to be her. So that was how she had found out about where Mokuba was going. He'd told her on line, they were talking, and somehow Gwen had figured out Mokuba's screen name. He gnashed his teeth in his mouth, and scowled at the screen. Mokuba would be mad, but his laptop would have to go, at least until they had moved to San Francisco. 

            SetKai: //You bitch. You come near my brother…//

            DragonTamer15: //Save your breath Kaiba, the games about to begin.//

            SetKai:// Game what game?//

            DragonTamer15://Our first duel. Look up at in the middle of the screen. You see that red box with the numbers on it. That's the time you have left to download your files, fifteen minutes. Not much I know, but still just enough for us to play this one game. See this is how it works that box up there is a 'Time bomb'. What that means is in there is a virus of my own concoction, a real dooze. Anyway the way the thing works out is this. We play a duel, if I win, the box is automatically opened and the virus is released into your computer. If, by some bizarre chance you win, I'll give you some clues as to how to disable the bomb. But, if it's a draw or time runs out, then we both get the virus. Oh and if your computer program down loads the files before time runs out well then the virus is released too. You game?//

            Kaiba stared at the screen, he knew the instant they started the timer would start and he knew that Gwen would play dirty. But still, there was nothing in the world that gave him a better high then dueling.

            On.//   


	8. Chapter 8: First Duel

Blue Destiny 

Copyright information: Yugi-oh, the title and characters are all owned and copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi, and Weekly shonen jump publication. Viz, and 4-kids are owners of the manga and anime of Yugi-Oh.  Upper Deck and Konomi are owners of the trading cards and video games. All likeness to persons living or dead is purely coincidence.

Author's Notes: Finally Chapter 8, and coming up 9. Ah…I can't wait to see the reaction the latter gets.~_^

Side Note: // -// indicates messages via the computer. (Atk/Def) for the cards. 

I should note that I'm using the names from the original version of the show and comic. So here's how they are set up. Yugi Moto =Yugi Mutou, Tristan Taylor =Hiroto Honda, Téa Gardner =Anzu Mazaki, Joey Wheeler =Katsuya Jonouchi, Duke Devilin =Ryuji Otogi, Seto Kaiba =same, Mokuba Kaiba =same, Maximillion Pegasus = Pegasus J. Crawford.

Chapter 8: First Duel

            The game screen lit up brightly as a new prompt came on, //Chose card deck, or place custom made deck online.//

            DragonTamer15: //Since you're Battle City info is still up I figure you can use your deck to duel me. That is if you're not afraid to loose…//

            SetKai: //Are we going to talk, or duel Gwen, because you're wasting my time. //

            DragonTamer15: //Temper, Temper, Set. Don't go letting your blood pressure rise to high. It's not healthy for a boy your age… //

            SetKai: //And I suppose the old man that you pass off as an assistant told you about that, right.//

            DragonTamer15: //Donovan's not old! At least he's got a better grip on reality…//

            SetKai: //And I'm sure something else as well…//

            DragonTamer15: //Sick Bastard! You'll pay for that one! //

            SetKai: //Who say's I was thinking anything like that. It's your mind not mine Scotts.//

            DragonTamer15: //Fine! Have it your way! But when I beat you, you'll be singing a different tune. Although I'm going to have to plug my ears, for fear of going deaf. //

            SetKai: // I'm surprised you haven't gone mute with all the running at the mouth you seem to do. //

            Seto waited for a reply but the computer suddenly began to whirl and click as he saw a new prompt screen that indicated that Gwen had already prepped her deck. His fingers flew over the keyboard and brought up the old Battle City files, and downloaded his own decks stats. Then, with a push of the Enter key, he was set. 

            DragonTamer15: //Rock, Paper, Scissors for it. //

            Seto chose rock; Gwen took scissors thinking that he would go after paper first. She was wrong. 

            DragonTamer15: // Second to go then, huh. Fine by me, Battle City rules, much more complex and more fun to beat you at your own game. Life points at 4000. Game start.  //

****Seto looked at his hand and smiled, right off the bat he had some pretty decent cards. Mechanical Chaser, a Gemini Elf, Negate attack, his crush card, virus cannon, and Cyber Jar. Drawing got him Raigeki, and he decided that it could come in handy. Seto set Cyber Jar (900/ 900) face down and set Negate attack face down. He had never seen Gwen's deck, so he wasn't sure exactly what she had in there. He knew she said they were spirit cards, and dragons, that he could deal with, he just wasn't sure of the traps. 

            For her first hand, Gwen had pulled, Darkfire Dragon, Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, Black Land Fire Dragon, and Troop Dragon, and Sapphire Dragon. When she drew she had to smile, Final Flame wasn't all that powerful but it was a good card.  Gwen countered, placing a Black Land Fire dragon on the field (1500/800) and set a magic card Final Flame on the field. 

            _Now let's see what you have hiding under there, Kaiba_, Gwen thought smirking as she ordered her dragon to attack. 

            was stupid. I thought you were better then this, Gwen. // 

            _What?!!_ She watched in horror as the card flipped up to reveal the Cyber Jar, which promptly exploded taking her dragon with it. _DAMN! Okay fine then, he wants to play hard ball, then I'll up my game too. _

****

            The effect set out Vorse Raider (1900/1200), Gemini Elf (1900/900), Dark Gremlin (1600/1800), Spear Dragon (1900/0), while his hand received one Blue Eyes White Dragon, Mirror force, Judgeman, Mountain, Flute of Summoning Dragon, and Lord of D., and Magic Jammer. Meanwhile on Gwen's side of the field her cards are Petite Dragon (600/700), Lizard Solider (1100/800) both set face down, then she placed Baby Dragon (1200/700), Koumori Dragon (1500/1200) in attack, and Dark Elf (2000/800) in defense. In her hand she held Dragon Rage a trap that allowed her to inflict damage to Kaiba's life points directly, Fushi no Tori, After Genocide, Yamata Dragon, and Susa Soldier, Remove trap, Swords of Revealing Light, and her own Negate Attack. 

            Seto started his turn by drawing Shadow spell, and set it, then attacked Gwen's Dark Elf with his Gemini Elf.  He proceeded to attack with Vorse Raider vs. Koumori Dragon, and then hit her Baby dragon with Dark Gremlin, and finished with Spear Dragon against her face down Lizard Solider, which inflicted direct damage to her life points. 

Kaiba: **4000**

Gwen: **2100**

SetKai: //That was pathetic. And you call yourself a duelist?!//

DragonTamer15: //Hold on, we're just starting.//

****

Gwen drew Firegrass (700/600) and then summoned her Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense. Kaiba had to chuckle at her pitiful attempt to save her life points. Gwen also set her Dragon's Rage and Remove trap, and ended her turn. She hoped he would come after her Troop Dragon with his Spear Dragon, that way she could use her strategy against him. Gwen smiled, and thought, _Okay Kaiba, lets see you get out of this. _

Seto grinned thinking; _Does_ she honestly think she can win this.__

He attacked her Troop Dragon with his Spear dragon, wiping out another 1100 points from her LPs. 

Kaiba: **4000**

Gwen: **1000**

DragonTamer15:// Thanks I needed that! //

Automatically she special summoned her second set of Troop Dragon, and summoned her Sapphire Dragon from her hand. Then she activated her Dragon's Rage trap card. Gwen sent her Sapphire Dragon to attack his Spear Dragon. Seto activated his Negate Attack, only to have Gwen chain it with her Remove Trap. Seto watched as his points dropped. But he was still far ahead of her, as she set one card face down. 

Kaiba: **2100**

Gwen: **1000**

He drew Remove trap. Seto then summoned his Lord of D. (1200/1100) and used his Flute of summoning Dragon to bring out the first of his Blue Eyes White Dragons. First thing though, he used Remove Trap to get rid of the continuous trap she had up. He attacked her Troop Dragon with his Gemini Elf, and she activated Negate Attack, blocking him. Seto's eyes slipped over to the clock to see the time of the Duel, they had less than ten minutes to finish. Suddenly his computer squealed loudly, "There's a problem. Someone's blocking me." 

"Well then try harder, upload the loop program," Seto barked at her. The only reason he'd agreed to this duel in the first place was due to the viral bomb and the fact that it was keeping Gwen from actually tampering with his download. He knew that the computer geeks she hired would have a hard time combating his system, so he had no worries there. "I'm keeping Scotts busy right now. The less time she spends working with those moron techs, the better for us." 

"You think?" the computer replied sarcastically, but Seto ignored her. Gwen drew pulling out Pot of Greed which she activated, giving her Polymerization and Goblin's Secret Remedy, and she had just summoned her Yamata Dragon (2600/3100) and activated the Goblin's Secret Remedy. She also set her Swords of Revealing Light, forcing him to not attack for three turns.

Kaiba: **2100**

Gwen: **1600**

She attacked with her Sapphire Dragon first, knocking out his Lord of D., and then used her Yamata Dragon against his Gemini Elf. 

Kaiba: **1000**

Gwen: **1600**

DragonTamer15: // Not so smart mouthed now are you. Hahahaha.//

Seto just had to smirk. He drew Change of Heart and then summoned his second Blue Eyes, then waited. He knew Gwen wouldn't risk an attack, but he set his Magic Jammer just in case and set his Mountain Field card. Then ended his turn. Gwen chuckled thinking she had the duel in the bag. And activated her Swords, she smirked thinking; _It's going to be over very soon. Less then three minutes and he's going to loose everything!_  Seto activated his Magic Jammer, discarding Mechanical Chaser, blocking the Swords. She quickly summoned her Fushi No Tori, and activated her Final Flame, bring him down by 500. 

Kaiba: **500**

Gwen: **1600**

Gwen glanced at the timer, less then two minutes left, and she waited to see what he was up to. Kaiba drew a card, his Dark Clown, and activated change of heart's pulling her Sapphire Dragon to his side of the field, then he directly attacked Gwen's life points sending her down to zero. 

Final

Kaiba: **500**

Gwen: **0**

Gwen's face fell, she lost! She lost to this fake! He'd been toying with her the whole time, letting her think she had the lead, and then he pushed her into a hole. She wouldn't tolerate it! He was going to loose, she'd see to it. Seto Kaiba would wish he'd never beaten her. Gwen screamed at the computer, "How the hell did he do that! I had him! I **HAD** him! That son of a…Well no matter he won't figure out the code to stop the bomb." 

Her fingers swiftly maneuvered over the top of the keyboard, a skill she'd picked up years ago. Smiling she rest the timer, and dropped it to 15 seconds. Seto watched as this happened, and gritted his teeth. She was nothing but a cheat, and a sore loser. Gwen Scotts was a spoiled brat that needed a spanking, something that seemed to be long over due. The counter started up again as a new message appeared on screen. The annoying dancing Toon Blue Eyes was back and this time he had on a top hat, red bow tie and a can. Seto couldn't help but cringe at the sight. Gwen, meanwhile, smiled happily. Oh she may have lost, but she'd make sure he would too. 

DragonTamer15: //Okay, you won, and I keep my word. I'm giving you a clue to defuse the bomb, but you have…15 seconds. So think fast! It's all about the money. //

Seto stared at the message. _What is she babbling about? All about the money, _it made no sense to him. 

DragonTamer15: // I would give you the right code, but you'll have to give me something in return. //

SetKai: //I 'll take my chances. I know how you think…//

DragonTamer15: // Fine have it you're way But I'll feel so bad to have your lovely computer AI come down with a rather nasty virus. After all what goes up must come down. //

Seto thought a moment, and closed his eyes. _She's playing games here. All about the money and what goes up must come down.  Money, she's thinking of something of value. So what's valuable to her? My card for one, but she wouldn't set it up so easily, so it has to be something else, something to do with real cash. What was it about this city; it was built on a hard history of money. Makes sense that they would name it Venture. When it was new Venture's big thing was about small business, and that's what Blue Destiny was at one time. So what's really important to a new business...?_

He glanced over at the timer, ten seconds remained. _Think, the key to a business is stock. The more you have the more money you gain, so she must be thinking of stocks. Venture thrives on its stocks, and Blue Destiny has the best in the city. A stock market goes up and down, it rises and falls so that must be the key to the comment she made.  And what is a stock market but a venue to play a game and win or loose. And when you play a game you're taking a gamble that you'll win it, same as with the stocks. Stocks rise and fall, just like a dragon when it flies. For Gwen everything's a game, including the stock market. To her this whole thing is a chance. It's all a big…I know it!_

RISK, he typed it into the small box on the bomb, and the timer stopped at the number 3. Seto smiled an arrogant grin, he'd won. The timer stopped and he glanced over at the small screen that was set up to monitor his AI's progress. Ten percent more and he'd have what he needed. 

SetKai: // You loose again Scotts! You're nothing but a hack. You could never call yourself a real duelist. You're worse then the dog Jonouchi. You'll never beat me, and don't even think of calling yourself a Dragon Duelist. It would be an insult to the cards. //

            In her office Gwen read the last part of his comment, and screamed with rage. How dare he even tell her that! No matter what, she was going to bring him down. Even if it meant screwing up her own systems! She typed in a new code and Donovan, who had been watching her carefully, saw a glint of malice come into her blue eyes. She grinned at him saying, "Boom!" 

            "System under attack in five seconds," the voice from the data system stated dully, and Seto sat up. He'd defused the bomb, this couldn't be happening. 

            "What the hell did you do Scotts?" He glanced over at the download screen, he had three percent left, but time was running out as a new counter appeared on screen and blipped the count down. He had to shut it down, and fast, but Seto didn't know what type of attack Gwen was setting up, and he didn't have time to scan it. He scowled, Their might not be much of a chance for his system, but he could at least save the AI program, even if it meant he'd loose all the files that he collected. His finger lingered over the keys to abort the download, but for some reason he just couldn't push them. He was waiting for the last possible second. Maybe there was a slim chance the AI would finish _before_ the timer ran out. 

            On her screen Gwen saw the same timer, and her finger was nearly upon the Enter key. She was smiling sadistically, and her mind was singing, _I'm going to kill Seto Kaiba. I'm going to kill Seto Kaiba. Yes I'm going to kill him, and then I'll have everything I've ever wanted._

            Donovan noticed her humming, and the wild look that had come into her eye. "Gwen what are you doing?" 

            She turned and grinned at him like a jackal, showing all her teeth, and giggled, "I'm going to blow him up, Donovan. I'm going to show him that he can't beat me." 

            "What do you…" He glanced at the program on screen and realized what it was. Four years before he'd seen the two people who created this program working on it late at night. He asked them what it was, and the man, who was Gwen's brother, had explained. 

            "It's a special last defense bomb. Think of it this way Ed, it's like a last chance. You're pinned to the wall, and there's no way out. You have a grenade in your hand, and there's no rescue squad coming. You're enemy is before you, and you know he will win if you let him get away. He's gonna kill you no matter what. You're as good as dead. So you pull the pin, and say a pray." 

            "But what does this bomb do?" Donovan had asked him, and Gwen's brother looked out the window, as if wishing he didn't have to tell him. 

            "It destroys the entire computer system. Erases all files, every last one, it kills all the computers, and those with any net service to us. Puts a virus in there so toxic that it over works the insides of the computers and melts them. That's what it does." 

            "Is there anyway to stop it?" Donvan had asked back then, and Gwen's brother nodded. 

            "There is, it's a pass word, but you have to keep it to yourself…" 

            Donovan looked at Gwen, there was a frightening intensity to her face. She hated to loose, he knew this, but this was going beyond just getting a card back. She was falling back into the darkness that she'd slipped into when…Donovan shook his head. He couldn't think of that, not now. He had to stop her before she destroyed her own company. 

            "Gwen, stop!" he yelled, and pulled her away from the computer. Three seconds remained, and Gwen grabbed at him, yelling for him to stop. To not stop the program, to not end it, not right now! 

            "Donovan, don't! Don't shut it down. HE NEEDS TO BE SLAUGHTERED!!!"

            "Not by sacrificing your own company Gwen," Donovan told her and spoke into the head set that he jacked into the computer. "Tiamat." 

            Donovan let out a relived sigh when he saw the counter delete itself from the screen. He sat back in the chair, and tossed the head set onto the desk. He closed his eyes and rubbed his brow, it had been close, too close as a matter of fact. He was just thinking this when he heard a sob, and glanced over by Gwen who had thrown herself on the couch, and was bawling. 

            "Gwen," Donovan said softly, coming over to her and petting her head. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't!" 

            She slapped his hand away, and said in a horse voice, "Get the hell away from me. I thought you were my friend, Donovan. I thought you understood why I needed to do this! But you're nothing but a liar and an ass! If you at all gave a damn about my brother or his friendship, you'd have let me use that program. Now Kaiba has our files. You just better damn well be prepared to deal with him, if he finds out more then he needs to know." 

            "Gwen, he's only a boy…" 

            "I don't care," Gwen stated loudly. "If he finds my weakness, I need to get rid of him. Permanently." 

            Seto watched as the counter ended its count down, and then let out a light sigh when it deleted itself from his screen. It was just then that his computer made a noise to catch his attention. She'd finished her download, and was now scanning over the files that they had secured. 

            "I think I found something, that you will really be interested in seeing," she said and pulled up a file. Seto leaned forward and read it, and his eyes went wide. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but if it was true then he was going to need to take a trip to LA. It was a partial document on a small plane, and notes on the side that read, _And to think Dad actually owned this. _

            "You're right, this is interesting," he said to the computer and smiled. The puzzle that was Gwen Scotts was about to unravel, and he was the perfect person to put the pieces in order and find the big picture. 

.*****

Extra Note: Sorry for the late update. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to add chapter 9.   


End file.
